Li Tongya dragged the river crocodile all the way back to Lijing Village, where village guards naturally stepped forward to take over. The Li family had begun preparations for the sacrifice several months ago. The ritual vessels had long been made ready, and seventy to eighty percent of the preliminary proceedings were complete, awaiting only the order of the direct descendants of the Li family's primary branch.
"The revenues of realm and seat are laid in store to serve the sacrifices."
Both the primary and secondary branches of the Li family had gathered. The primary branch stood upon the circular sacrificial platform, the secondary branch stood below, and the collaterals knelt in a circle around them.
Standing on the first tier of the platform before the altar was the current head of the Li family, Li Xiangping. A step behind him stood Li Tongya. Counting Li Chijing, who was far away in Nanjiang, these men constituted the second generation in charge of the Li family.
At the forefront of the platform tier below them was the clan rector, Li Xuanxuan, followed by Li Xuanfeng and Li Xuanling.
The initial ten-odd procedures were elaborate and lengthy. Not until Li Xiangping planted the incense into the altar burner and formed the hand seal of the Sacrificial Beast Method to communicate with the magical mirror did Lu Jiangxian slowly awaken.
"Here stands the Li clan of Lijing, reverently offering pure wine and diverse delicacies, cold meats and sacrificial beasts. Year after year the incense never ceases. Settled upon the northern range of Mount Li, we sow in spring and reap in autumn, drive off plagues of pests, harvest the summer wheat, slay monsters and quell snows, eradicate evils and divide the fields fairly. Across the Three Primes and Six Festivals, never have we failed in reverence. In seasons of sacrifice and days of feasting, our worship has never lapsed... With smoke and pyre we offer sacrifice; with blood we render tribute; thus we serve the divine and bring down blessings."
His words finished, Li Xiangping stepped forward a few paces. The sacrificial knife in his hand drove straight into the river crocodile's skull at the center of the circular platform. Already at its last gasp, its limbs and meridians locked tight by River true essence, the demonic beast perished instantly.
Guided by Lu Jiangxian's divine sense, streams of vital essence gathered from the river crocodile's corpse, condensing alongside its dispersing soul. They surged forth from the wound cut by the sacrificial knife like a column of beacon smoke woven entirely from origin qi.
In a realm invisible to mortal perception, wisps of pale golden mist flowed from each person standing below. Like swallows returning to their nests, they swept into that beacon smoke, tinting the plume a faint shade of gold.
The smoke billowed skyward for several breaths before scattering into countless gray motes of light imperceptible to the naked eye, streaming away toward Mount Lijing.
Lu Jiangxian gathered the various types of qi, following the technique to condense a gray talisman. Just as he was about to bestow it, an intense attraction rose mysteriously from the void, seeking to bridge thousands of mountains and rivers to forge a connection with him.
The memory of the old Daoist's jade pendant flashed through his mind. Terrified, Lu Jiangxian hastily reined in his aura, severed the link, and even withdrew his divine sense back into the mirror.
That foreign aura descended slowly, lingering and circling nearby for a time, before finally retreating in sullen reluctance.
***
The Jinyu Sect.
The Jinyu Sect was one of the Three Sects of the State of Yue, standing alongside the Qingchi Sect and the Xiuyue Sect. Its disciples were mostly adept at artifact manipulation. The sect's main peak was named Jinyu Peak, upon which hung a radiant, dazzling talisman. Rumor held that six strands of solar sun essence were sealed within it specifically to suppress evils and monsters.
At the highest point of Jinyu Peak lay a cave manor where Purple Palace cultivators went into secluded cultivation year-round. Because brilliant purple smoke frequently drifted from it, the disciples called it Ziyan Cave.
At this moment, however, chaos reigned within Ziyan Cave. Three Purple Palace cultivators of transcendent mien each held a jet-black iron chain, striving with all their might to restrain a quail-egg-sized, crystal-clear fragment in the center of the cave. The floor was strewn with overturned artifact furnaces and shattered magical artifacts that still gave off faint, luminous glimmers.
"Why did this mirror shard suddenly erupt into frenzy?!"
The translucent shard slammed against the array several times. His expression grim, one of the Purple Palace cultivators cursed in an undertone, "At this rate, I fear we won't be able to gather our quota of Xuanming qi this time!"
"Could it be that the immortal mirror has appeared?!"
Another Purple Palace cultivator muttered to himself, "How could that be? Cultivators from our Three Sects and Seven Gates have been patrolling the entire State of Yue with magical artifacts, yet they haven't found the slightest trace. Has it already drifted outside Yue?"
"What did the Qingchi Sect say?"
The moment the cultivator asked, the first Purple Palace cultivator cursed, "Their entire sect is busy trying to prolong Chi Wei's life, begging for spirit medicines everywhere. Where would they find the time to care about this!"
"Forget it, forget it." The inquiring cultivator shook his head, looking somewhat dejected. "Chi Wei may be a petty villain, but he was once an unmatched genius of his era after all..."
"Bah!" The short-tempered Purple Palace cultivator spat forcefully and snapped, "I only hope he dies sooner, and good riddance! Vile scoundrel!"
The other chuckled and teased, "Junior Brother, how clean are our own Jinyu Sect's hands? There's really no need to judge him so harshly."
The short-tempered cultivator fell silent at once, letting out a long, slow sigh only after a protracted pause.
***
"Consolidates cultivation, enhances the six senses, elevates root bone, alters innate aptitude, refines spiritual caliber, mends flaws and omissions... Truly excellent talisman qi."
The gray talisman leaped out from the mirror's surface. Guided by Lu Jiangxian's divine sense, it descended toward Li Xiangping. The gray talisman circled once before flying into his Shengyang Mansion.
Lu Jiangxian's vision blurred, and several lines of large characters surfaced before him.
At the very top, sketched with dark crimson strokes, emanated a palpable wave of baleful aura:
*Might Through a Thousand Jun.*
In the middle, painted in faint gray strokes, coiled and twisted like a long serpent:
*Extend Years and Prolong Life.*
At the bottom, rendered in faint cyan brushstrokes, appeared neat and decisive:
*Ward Off Death and Prolong Life.*
Lu Jiangxian understood at once. This was giving him the choice of which power to bestow with the gray talisman. He pondered for a moment. Considering that Li Xiangping was the clan head of the Li family, he chose "Ward Off Death and Prolong Life."
This talisman qi could only be bestowed in accordance with innate talent upon someone bearing a Xuanzhu talisman seed; for ordinary people, it could merely raise cultivation and alter root bones.
Below, Li Xiangping shuddered all over. His aura steadily surged upward. The cultivation that had only reached the fifth layer of Embryonic Breathing the year before last took another step forward, attaining the pinnacle of Embryonic Breathing. Large characters in faint cyan abruptly surfaced in his mind:
*Ward Off Death and Prolong Life.*
Before he could react, Li Tongya was already looking over with concern and waved his hand to signal the end of the sacrifice. Li Xiangping closed his eyes in deep thought.
Once the crowd had dispersed, Li Xiangping finally collected his wits. Looking at Li Tongya, he whispered, "Let's talk once we're up the mountain."
The two hurried up the mountain. Sweeping with his spiritual sense, Li Tongya immediately discovered that Li Xiangping's cultivation had reached the peak of Embryonic Breathing. He whispered, "Was it that talisman qi?"
Li Xiangping nodded and told Li Tongya everything he had seen and experienced. Both men were pleasantly surprised, but just then, a clan guard arrived with a report: another band of Shanyue was wandering eastward.
In recent years, as Jianixi pushed eastward and crushed numerous tribes, more and more Shanyue had fled east. Sometimes they came in groups of several dozen, sometimes several hundred. Li Xiangping had had no choice but to garrison clan guards west of Lichuankou and personally station himself there from time to time to prevent wandering Shanyue bands from raiding the villages.
"What is the situation?" Li Xiangping asked.
The clan guard replied, "Reportedly several hundred men. They are currently assaulting our battle line."
Over the years, the population under the Li family's rule had exceeded fifteen thousand. Two thousand of them were wandering Shanyue who had been absorbed, and the number of clan guards had reached a thousand—a fairly substantial force.
"Let's go. To Lichuankou." Li Xiangping nodded, exchanged a glance with Li Tongya, and hurried down the mountain.
Chapter 85