Mount Dali.
Leaves drifted across a thousand peaks beneath the desolate chill of the autumn wind. The crags and summits of Mount Dali stood sheer and perilous, where the sixteen monster caves overflowed with spiritual aura, brilliant and dazzling to the eye. Several monsters rode the wind back and forth, all clad in armor and behaving with strict discipline.
The golden-eyed man halted among the mountains, his gaze blazing bright. Behind him, the white ape monster stepped forward at once, frowning slightly. Down below, monsters fell to their knees with thuds, calling out "Great King" from all sides. One monster pulled itself away and crawled forward, prostrating before his boots and calling out,
"We do not know which blessed land Your Lordship has graced with your presence. Word has already been sent to summon the Monster King from the cave, but we beg Your Lordship to bestow your title so that we may report it properly."
Li Zhouwei swept his eyes over the monsters around him and replied,
"A neighbor from across the lake..."
Before the words had completely left his lips, two streaks of light shot forward and materialized before him as two middle-aged men. Looking closely, Li Zhouwei recognized them as a deer and a bear, both at the Foundation Establishment stage.
The two monsters dropped to the ground in full prostration. Li Zhouwei gave a slight lift of his hand, and his divine ability gently helped the deer monster to its feet as he said in a soft voice,
"No need for such ceremony. When we arrived at the northern foothills, we found the cave abode deserted and our senior nowhere to be seen. Having no other choice, we took the liberty of coming to the main peak. Please do not take offense."
Lu Ken was Bai Rong's subordinate, someone Li Zhouwei had met long ago, which was why he had been lifted up. Even now, he shrank back timidly, not daring to say much. The bear monster beside him naturally lacked such fortune and remained prostrated on the ground.
Lu Ken hurriedly said,
"Kneeling is only natural before Your Lordship. What is more, Your Lordship's life and fate now match, and you have reclaimed your divine ability. If this humble one does not kneel now, I fear it would diminish my own fortune."
Li Zhouwei had no choice but to let go and allow him to finish his courtesies. Only then did Lu Ken say humbly,
"It was not that we were unwilling to stay in the mountains to attend upon Your Lordship, but rather that the White Qilin bloodline has attained a divine ability... In the northern foothills, no monster general dares to bear a name other than Li, and no master dares go without bearing scales. This humble monster feared suffering divine retribution from Weihuang, and thus dared not linger."
He was timid and subservient, while the bear monster beside him trembled like a winnowing sieve, unable to rise. Li Zhouwei nodded.
"You need only guide me to see the master of Mount Dali."
The deer bowed low at once and led him forward. As Li Zhouwei took in the winding, steep contours of the mountains, he asked,
"Since scales and armor fall under the dominion of the White Qilin and Shuyang, which Dao governs your kind, the deer?"
Lu Ken said respectfully,
"We of the deer kind obey the path of Purple Qi."
'So it is Purple Qi... Senior Bai Rong treading purple smoke was not entirely out of place either.'
He came to an unspoken understanding. After flying for only a short distance, he saw a pool atop the main peak of Mount Dali. White water boiled and churned amid swirling mists; monsters offered auspicious tributes, and spiritual fruits and herbs grew in abundance everywhere.
Lu Ken did not dare proceed further, and the White Ape quietly halted its steps as well. Li Zhouwei moved forward alone. Taking several dozen steps through this ethereal, immortal realm, he came upon a jade platform where a man sat.
This person had skin fair as congealed fat and features gentle, handsome, and bordering on seductive. Slender and tall, with laughter crinkling the corners of his eyes, he appeared thoroughly graceful and poised. A joyful radiance shone between his brows as he stepped down from the platform and smiled.
"Where the Qilin treads, life flourishes in abundance! This is truly a blessing for Mount Dali!"
"It is merely a touch of karmic mandate. Your Lordship flatters me."
Li Zhouwei returned the courtesy, golden light swirling in his eyes.
'A Monster King with three divine abilities, though I have never seen these abilities before...'
Mount Dali stood firm in Jiangnan. Though its inhabitants had rarely ventured out in recent years, none dared encroach upon them; clearly, it possessed profound reserves. The being before him alone was a noble scion of considerable cultivation.
The host beamingly invited him to sit at a table and replied,
"I am a Monster King of Mount Dali, of the surname Qingyu, given name Qian, and Dao title Tingfu. I have long heard the illustrious name of Minghuang!"
Unexpectedly, while the fox tribe of Mount Dali universally took Bai as their primary surname, this Monster King Tingfu was not surnamed Bai, but bore the name Qingyu Qian.
"Greetings, Senior..."
Li Zhouwei rose from his seat and bowed in thanks.
"Mount Dali has aided us for many years. That the Li clan can stand where it is today fills us with boundless gratitude. My deepest thanks to Senior!"
Monster King Tingfu chuckled and shook his head. Having taken human shape from a fox, this smile of his was exceptionally captivating. Lifting the jade flagon on the table, he poured wine for Li Zhouwei and merely said,
"The credit cannot be placed on my head."
Only after completing his courtesies did Li Zhouwei return to his seat. Monster King Tingfu raised his cup, offered a couple of congratulations, and then said,
"Bai Rong, that child, was someone I plucked from the mountain forests. He is now a junior whom I hold in great esteem. At present, he is cultivating in the mountains to gestate his divine ability, so he cannot come out to reminisce with you. A pity indeed!"
Li Zhouwei smiled.
"When Senior Bai Rong succeeds, I shall certainly come to congratulate him!"
The two exchanged a few pleasantries before Qingyu Qian's eyes curved with a smile, and he finally asked,
"I heard of the matter regarding the dragon kind. A figure of your noble clan has already transformed into thunder—doubtless the scheme of Dragon Lord Beijia, laying pieces regarding the Mingyang matter far in advance. There is no way Luoxia remains unaware of this... Yet I would like to ask, how does Minghuang see this?"
Seeing him cut straight to the point, Li Zhouwei replied,
"In Senior's view, is there any chance of escaping it?"
Back then, the fox and the dragon had sworn an oath right before him, so Li Zhouwei naturally spoke along those lines. Hearing this, Qingyu Qian said softly,
"Difficult."
Before Li Zhouwei could respond, Qingyu Qian said with great amiability,
"Though I hold no love for Luoxia, the dragon kind is not an easy sort to deal with either. In truth, to lay it all bare, Luoxia might not covet Mingyang; they simply do not wish the Shuyang upon the Mingyang fruit position—the one existing between heaven and earth—to be Li Qianyuan. If you go along with them and comply, you could still attain the Mingyang fruit position and remain an almighty being of heaven and earth."
His words were surprisingly neutral and unbiased. With deep bewilderment in his brows, Li Zhouwei fell silent for a moment before murmuring,
"Why do they hate him to such an extent?"
After Li Zhouwei asked, Qingyu Qian sighed,
"Li Qianyuan was no ordinary figure. Since ancient times, fruit positions that have had only a single master throughout heaven and earth have been few and far between. He was merely one step away from becoming a Dao Embryo immortal. Had he taken that step, he would have become the first person in all of history to combine the station of a celestial dynasty's emperor with that of an immortal in a single body.
"He had irreconcilable conflicts with Luoxia, and even with more than half of the lineages of the Three Mysteries and Four Daos. This conflict was not merely rooted in Dao paths, lineages, and divine abilities, but also in grudges, ideals, and methods of cultivation..."
Qingyu Qian's gaze was heavy. Li Zhouwei frowned and asked,
"Yet I have heard... in the remotest antiquity, human sovereigns established their great works..."
Qingyu Qian took a sip of wine and shook his head.
"That was establishing an enterprise, not a celestial dynasty. What is meant by a celestial dynasty is unified without exterior, a singular power across the world that is solely My Imperial Power, a singular father across the world that is My Sovereign-Father! How could it compare to the Zhou dynasty enfeoffing feudal lords? To put it plainly, the so-called Great Zhou was merely a central state among many."
Li Zhouwei remained silent. The fox monster before him said in a low voice,
"Do you understand now? We are later generations looking upon history as a mirror, so it is naturally clear to us. But back then, how many under heaven understood? Tuoba Xuan still claimed a celestial dynasty; his foundations were substantial, and he had the backing of the Guanxie faction. And what became of Great Liang in the end?
"Look at Emperor Zhao, Fu Qiyan. He founded Great Zhao and ascended Mount Dayang, facing the rolling yellow sands, only to utter a single sentence: 'Dechang is dead, Xiao and Wu remain unquelled, the south is deep and perilous, my work remains unfinished.' Did he ever consider what would become of his descendants?
"Emperor Wei could drop dead mid-air, and Emperor Liang could drown in the water. Halfway through extinguishing Yan, right after speaking those words, Fu Qiyan collapsed and perished in Yincheng Commandery, causing wood and stone to weep. The ancient Binggu position of 'Shenkui' was lost forever after that. In ancient times, what were the Dharma bodies of you cultivators' Violet Palaces like, and what are they like today?"
His barrage of questions left Li Zhouwei in silence. Qingyu Qian said gently,
"Among imperial houses, none begin well and end well. What the dragon kind wishes to do is merely delay his demise; they never thought they could bring about his return. The people of Luoxia will meet you sooner or later. Take good care of yourself."
"Many thanks for Your Lordship's guidance!"
Qingyu Qian looked solemn, the smile in his eyes having faded. Clearly, even with the covenant between dragon and fox beforehand, Mount Dali still harbored an extremely pessimistic attitude. Li Zhouwei offered a few words of gratitude, and the two shifted the conversation to other topics, dispelling the gloom amid the white mist.
Having only recently achieved his divine ability, Li Zhouwei still harbored many doubts and perplexities regarding the children of karmic mandate. It was awkward to ask in ordinary places, and most people understood little of it anyway. His visit this time was not merely a courtesy call, but also carried the intention to inquire. Thus, he said,
"Having now attained the Violet Palace and received my divine ability, I feel my Dharma body has grown formidable, and along with it, my eyes can perceive many things clearly. Yet the other benefits and drawbacks remain unclear to me...
"Senior Bai Rong once mentioned that upon attaining the Violet Palace, I would be no different from a monster... I hope Senior can elaborate."
When he brought this up, Qingyu Qian nodded in understanding and chuckled, shaking his head.
"Then you have truly asked the right person. When it comes to lifebound divine abilities, my Mount Dali certainly possesses an intact inheritance!"
He then adopted a serious expression and said,
"A fruit position is a station, yet it is also an authority that exerts influence upon the world at every moment. People often speak of 'power and position'—this is precisely the principle behind it.
"Within the Path of Violet Palace and Golden Core, lifebound divine abilities can be ranked first in uniqueness. What do they cultivate? According to my lineage's understanding, what one cultivates is in fact a connection to the fruit position. This part of the mystery is often realized through the influence that the fruit position exerts upon the world. That is why cultivating a lifebound divine ability places tremendous emphasis on Dao attainment."
He sipped his wine and continued,
"Some lineages possess more than one lifebound divine ability. That is actually because the fruit position hangs higher and places greater emphasis on connection. This often required ancient cultivators to comprehend it on their own—how arduous that was! Yet the brilliance of the Path of Violet Palace and Golden Core lies precisely in its simplicity, with lower demands on natural talent for Dao attainment!
"Unfortunately, the world has never been fair. Some have good fortune, while others have noble births. By the same token, there is a class of people who—whether by reincarnation, identity and bloodline, character and circumstances, mindset and breadth of mind, or even receiving the favor of a fruit position for no reason at all—possess all manner of corresponding divine marvels. These are what we call children of karmic mandate.
"Such individuals often possess peerless grand fortune and can achieve great deeds, as though born carrying an unconscious connection. Once they attain the Violet Palace, they find their lifebound divine ability naturally falling into place, flowing like water along a channel!"
Whenever his eyes curved, they brimmed with a smile. He said softly,
"This holds true for you as well. If you were to cultivate 'Clear Illumination of the World', it would likewise come naturally. Yet you also possess differences from them.
"Speaking of this, one cannot avoid the matter of transformation. In the Path of Violet Palace and Golden Core, once a bodily divine ability is achieved, more than eighty percent of cultivators gain the power of transformation. They can endure the ascent of Yang without harm, turning into birds or fish without difference. It is merely that each lineage has its own symbols. Unless one specifically cultivates a specialized art of transformation, shifting back and forth is nothing more than altering one's appearance; none of it is as practical as the human body, which has proven the arts of the various Daos... After all, even we monsters strive to take human form.
"Yet Li Qianyuan has already ascended to the fruit position. How could one still refer to him as human? Calling him Shuyang would not be an exaggeration! As his descendant, once favored by the fruit position—and given that the Mingyang fruit position is one that emphasizes father and son above all—it will likewise deem you the scion of Shuyang. That is no longer transformation; you simply are."
He narrowed his eyes slightly and answered his own question:
"As for why a Qilin rather than a cicada, that is equally obvious. You are the first person to turn the gaze of the Mingyang fruit position toward yourself, so naturally you are the eldest son—the White Qilin. Once you have perfected five divine abilities, you will be, beyond any doubt, a White Qilin.
"If I guess correctly, both the dragons and Luoxia have calculated this. Luoxia has been keeping a watchful eye on the Mingyang fruit position itself; the moment you achieved your divine ability, they naturally knew a White Qilin had descended upon the world."
The knots in Li Zhouwei's heart gradually unraveled. Qingyu Qian said,
"If another person emerges someday, it will likely be a cicada."
Li Zhouwei nodded silently and raised an eyebrow.
"Yet... with this father-son bond... is Luoxia truly not afraid Emperor Wei left behind some contingency? Are they not afraid this was deliberately released by him?"
"Hahahaha!"
The fox monster laughed a few times, his tone suddenly shifting as he said in a low voice,
"Of course not! Mingyang is not only the throne of the Sovereign-Father; it is also a grand station of son slaying father, father slaying son, father seizing the beloved of son, and son seizing the authority of father! Only when all five converge is it truly Mingyang!
"Mingyang abhors an inverted station; when the son is strong and the father weak, how could he not seize the throne?"
Li Zhouwei lowered his eyes, feeling a profound chill arise within him.
The clouds and mists in the pool churned rapidly. After a period of silence, Li Zhouwei replied,
"Your Lordship's learning is vast and your Dao attainment profound, far beyond what ordinary people can match. This junior is filled with admiration and gratitude..."
Qingyu Qian quickly adjusted his mood, smiling and shaking his head.
"It is mainly because our lineage is intact. Speaking of Dao attainment, I have never been able to compare to the one from Ziyan. He was the truly profound one, whose learning bridged heaven and man..."
Li Zhouwei immediately understood he was speaking of Perfected Zimu, the peak Violet Palace cultivator of the Taiyang lineage who was currently missing. He sighed,
"It is just that no one knows where His Lordship has gone..."
Qingyu Qian refrained from saying more on that, reining in his words and merely laughing.
"His speed of cultivation was truly terrifying. In those days, his innate talent for cultivating the Dao was hailed as the foremost in the Taiyang lineage, more than sufficient even for cultivating the ancient immortal Dao!"
He then swiftly steered the conversation back and said,
"In truth, as I sit in this mountain, my divine ability is somewhat peculiar—it allows me to hear words spoken beneath the mountain. For the past century, I have mostly been in secluded cultivation, so I know relatively little about your noble clan. Much of what I know came from the mouth of that junior of mine."
That this Monster King could hear all manner of affairs was something the Li family had learned long ago. Whether words spoken by members of the Li family during their Embryonic Breathing, Qi Refinement, or even mortal days had fallen into his ears was difficult to guess. It was an extremely sensitive matter, ripe for suspicion.
Now that he had brought it up so openly, he clearly wanted to air it out. Hearing his words, Li Zhouwei did not know quite how to respond, and could only say,
"Your Lordship's divine ability is formidable... Could it be 'Ting Xingchen'?"
Monster King Tingfu chuckled.
"The Wei Li clan has heritage after all; you guessed spot on. This Dao of mine is not something ordinary folk could know. Even in its most flourishing era, there were no more than two or three lineages under heaven cultivating it."
At this, Li Zhouwei smiled.
"Could it be a Binggu method?"
This was not difficult to guess. The crowd of Mount Wu practiced something of the sort, which resonated with shamanic arts, and it did not take the concrete form of earth, water, wind, fire, thunder, or spiritual energy. Nine times out of ten, it was Binggu.
Qingyu Qian poured wine for him, smiling without a word. After pausing for a moment, he said softly,
"Having cultivated this divine ability, it is generally awkward to visit others' homes. After all, even if subordinates speak from far away, there are always taboos and secrets. Thus, over all these years, aside from descendants of old acquaintances breaking through to the Violet Palace or cultivators seeking to attain the Golden Core, I have rarely stepped out.
"Presently, I am attempting to cross the immortal threshold. With the opportunity at hand and the breakthrough drawing near, I move about even less. If one day I am truly fortunate enough to become a Great Monster, going outside will offend people all the more!
"However, my Mount Dali has an intact lineage inheritance, and I possess some discernment. If Minghuang has anything you wish to unravel, you are most welcome to come and ask."
Li Zhouwei naturally agreed, musing inwardly:
'Compared to Chunyi Dao, Mount Dali is probably a degree more reliable. Once the cave abode reveals itself and I have a pretext, I can find an opportunity to ask.'
Chapter 919