When Li Tongya emerged from the cave dwelling, Mount Huaqian was already quiet. The Lu family had cordoned off the various courtyards and rounded up all the Ji family members on the mountain. Flecks and spatters of blood dotted the stone paths.
After making a circuit around the mountain, he saw Lu Sisi and the bald man riding the wind down. In hand, they still carried Ji Dengqi's corpse. Looking quite pleased with their haul, Lu Sisi called out to Li Tongya with a broad smile, "Our luck wasn't bad. Mount Huazhong was in utter chaos. The Ji family only had a young clan head in his early twenties at the peak of Embryonic Breathing who had the presence of mind to shatter their inheritance jade slips. We smashed his skull open and managed to salvage three out of the six jade slips."
Li Tongya nodded. Recalling the bottle of heaven-and-earth spirit qi in the cave dwelling, he realized it had most likely been prepared by Ji Dengqi for that young clan head. In a deep voice, he said, "We can discuss the jade slips later."
Pointing toward the mountain courtyards and the cave dwelling behind him, he continued, "The Wan family was once prominent, after all. I took a look around the mountain; Mount Huaqian has quite a few spirit fields, yielding around a hundred jin of spirit rice each year. That spirit spring is of exceptionally fine quality as well. Discounting it all to a thirty percent share still amounts to over two hundred spirit stones. Can Brother Lu produce such an amount?"
Lu Sisi laughed heartily. Retrieving twelve small flags with black bodies and white patterns from his storage bag, he replied, "Does Brother Li recognize this?"
Li Tongya stepped back several paces and cautiously rose into the air, asking hesitantly, "Formation flags?"
"Precisely!"
Seeing Li Tongya on guard, Lu Sisi realized that bringing out formation flags was too sensitive a gesture and had caused a misunderstanding. He quickly explained, "These formation flags are the Wan family's heirloom treasure—the White Feather Purple Catalpa Flags! They were the magical tools Wan Huaqian frequently wielded back in the day, later left here on Mount Huaqian to form the Earth-Locking Huaqian Formation. A few years ago, the Ji family obtained them. Offsetting two hundred-odd spirit stones with them is no problem at all!"
Lu Sisi had been to Mount Lijing and knew the Li family's mountain-protecting array was pitifully crude. Having just suffered Jianixi's surprise raid, the Li clan from top to bottom was permeated by deep unease and desperately needed a reliable mountain-protecting array. These words struck right at Li Tongya's soft spot.
"The White Feather Purple Catalpa Flags are merely Qi Refinement realm formation flags. No matter how miraculous they are, they are worth at most a hundred or so spirit stones. Senior flatters them too much."
Li Tongya shook his head with a self-deprecating laugh. Although the offer was immensely enticing, spending two hundred spirit stones to purchase a set of formation flags was far too extravagant.
"In that case, I will add another fifty spirit stones!"
Lu Sisi took fifty spirit stones from his brocade pouch and placed them together into Li Tongya's hands, saying solemnly, "I have been generous enough. You had your own gains inside the cave dwelling as well, young friend, so your trip was certainly not in vain!"
Li Tongya pondered for a breath before quietly putting the items away, granting Lu Sisi face as he replied, "The Lu and Li families will be neighbors from now on, so naturally there is no need to haggle over every detail."
"Well said."
Lu Sisi handed the three jade slips to Li Tongya as well, his smile broadening as he whispered, "We have already made copies of these jade slips. These before you are the original mantras. Take them."
Li Tongya understood in his heart that Lu was hinting he had not produced doctored transcriptions to entrap him. Accepting the jade slips, he extended his spiritual sense into them to inspect them thoroughly, then nodded and smiled. "Senior Lu is truly kind and magnanimous; Tongya is full of admiration. I shall take my leave first."
Having said this, he nodded to the bald man, took to the wind, and departed without looking back.
Watching Li Tongya recede into the distance, the bald man also cupped his hands and said, "Brother Lu, the matter here is settled, so Mount Huazhong belongs to my clan now. The Yu family to the north is powerful, so please look after us in the future."
"Take care, Brother An."
Lu Sisi nodded slightly. Watching the man rise on the wind, he only then turned and entered the cave dwelling. Gazing at the clear, shimmering spirit spring before him, he let out a soft breath, his face alight with joy.
"At last, I have obtained this spirit spring. The Dongquan limpid qi is finally secured, so the younger generations won't have to cultivate those common, first-rank goods!"
***
Mount Lijing.
The moment Li Tongya landed, he saw Li Xuanxuan pacing back and forth anxiously. Catching sight of Li Tongya, Li Xuanxuan let out a long breath of relief and bowed respectfully. "Second Uncle!"
Li Tongya smiled and nodded. Retrieving the long staff, he tossed it into Li Xuanxuan's hands and said warmly, "See how it feels in your hands."
Li Xuanxuan had no magical tool of his own yet, so his eyes lit up upon seeing the long staff. He took it and examined it for a while. Though the staff was merely an Embryonic Breathing realm magical tool, it was still quite good for the Li family—Li Tongya himself was still using an Embryonic Breathing realm longsword.
Li Tongya checked the storage bag of that Ji family Qi Refinement cultivator. It was only two feet square inside, containing nothing but miscellaneous sundries, two spirit stones, and talismans and medicinal pills of merely the Embryonic Breathing level.
"Leave it for Xuanfeng."
Li Xuanfeng was at the fifth layer of Embryonic Breathing, the Yujing Wheel, and could already use a storage bag. Li Tongya took back his own storage bag and left this one for Li Xuanfeng.
"These formation flags can be considered top-tier among Qi Refinement tools."
Li Tongya summoned the twelve White Feather Purple Catalpa Flags, admiring them fondly for a while before stowing them away. Then he produced the three jade slips.
Li Tongya took out the first jade slip and extended his spiritual sense into it.
*Golden Radiance True Edge Formula*.
This scripture had to be the Ji family's inheritance art, most likely brought back through that Ji family woman. It was a third-rank orthodox method, on par with the family's *River Unity Qi Formula*, drawing upon the metal-stone sharp qi emanating from the interior and exterior of gold-and-jade mines.
"The State of Yue has only one major gold-and-jade mine, located right at the mountain gate of the Tangjin Sect. This metal-stone sharp qi all flows out from the Tangjin Sect."
Li Tongya took out the jade bottle from the cave dwelling and swept it with his spiritual sense.
"Gleaming with radiance, sharp as an edge—it is indeed that metal-stone sharp qi."
Storing these two items away, Li Tongya inspected the remaining two jade slips.
One was the *Clear Spirit Origin-Transforming Formula*, which was merely a first-rank method utilizing Xiaoqing spirit qi. Li Tongya shook his head, put it away, and stored it in reserve.
The other was *Jinqiu Talisman Refining Notes*, notes left behind by a cultivator at the peak of Qi Refinement. It recorded ingenious applications of many basic talisman methods. The author was named Si Boxiu, though Li Tongya had no idea where the Ji family had acquired it.
"Si Boxiu... I wonder what connection he had to Si Yuanbai."
Li Tongya skimmed through it and saw the ending lines:
"For the profound essentials of talismans, the Yuehua Yuan Mansion stands foremost. Among their teachings, the techniques of transforming talismans into formations and turning talismans into qi are especially wondrous. If one could master such arts..."
"Yuehua Yuan Mansion... talisman qi..."
Li Tongya sighed softly. He had long suspected that the magical mirror was inseparably linked to the Yuehua Yuan Mansion, and now he was all the more certain. Yet he felt little joy in his heart.
"Becoming entangled in such karma—who knows whether it will bring fortune or disaster."
***
"Worthless dog!"
Mu Jiaoman furiously shattered the severed head before him with a palm strike, hoisted up the Shanyue clansman before him, and snarled through gritted teeth, "Useless trash! How is this Li Xiangping?! He is a lowlander, yet you bring me the head of a Yue?!"
With a punch that sent the clansman vomiting blood incessantly, Mu Jiaoman's eyes turned bloodshot, brimming with uncontrollable rage.
That day, he had failed to catch Li Tongya, and upon returning, he had let that lowlander woman escape as well. How could Mu Jiaoman fail to realize that she was most likely a member of the Li clan? He was consumed by regret.
"Had I known, I should have simply stunned her with a shamanic spell! Being so meddlesome only let her get away!"
Mu Jiaoman slumped slowly back into his seat, no longer in the mood to think about her. He was currently facing an even more troublesome, thornier issue—the elusive, omnipresent Li Xiangping.
"That bastard acts like he has eyes on his buttocks and the crown of his head! That bastard is a hungry wolf, a locust without stripes..."
This lowlander named Li Xiangping had already circled through the hinterlands more than a dozen times. When news first arrived, he had armed over a thousand men, only to be routed without suspense. But when the next report came, he was already in the south, leading men to slay tribal elders and distribute their grain.
The few Qi Refinement cultivators garrisoned there were run ragged, dizzy from chasing him back and forth. Yet Li Xiangping always managed to withdraw before they arrived, only to pivot and strike again once they left.
Mu Jiaoman suffered through several sleepless nights until, at last, Li Xiangping's head was delivered to his military tent. Mu Jiaoman let out a huge breath of relief and decreed that Li Xiangping was dead. Yet the man reappeared in the west, organizing displaced refugees and daring even to push further south.
Mu Jiaoman hurriedly mobilized troops and crushed him without hesitation, but among the defeated enemy forces, they found no trace of any lowlander. Instead, reports poured in every day from all directions claiming sightings of Li Xiangping. Mu Jiaoman even began to doubt what Li Xiangping's true cultivation realm was.
Over the following days, the situation spiraled out of control. Every day, heads said to be Li Xiangping's were delivered to his tent, yet all turned out to be Shanyue heads. The western defensive line was attacked twelve times in succession, and the man had nearly escaped back east. Throughout the Northern Foothills, rumors began spreading among the Shanyue about the omnipresent Li Xiangping.
When word arrived last night, Li Xiangping had advanced right up to Dajueting, sweeping along nearly ten thousand refugees to force Mu Jiaoman to pull back reinforcements. The moment Mu Jiaoman moved his main army, Li Xiangping would be able to leisurely withdraw east.
"Only the Great King can truly slay this omnipresent locust! Commander, he is no mere Embryonic Breathing realm cultivator; he is a sharp-eyed, keen-eared hungry wolf! He is a demon, casting a spell over the refugees so they follow him like men possessed..."
The tribal shaman under his command spoke while trembling. A deep sense of helplessness welled up within Mu Jiaoman. Meanwhile, Jianixi, still at the Tangjin Sect front line, remained completely silent—and that silence terrified Mu Jiaoman all the more.
"I don't care what he is!"
Mu Jiaoman said coldly, "Either he dies, or I die."
Overnight, he inquired about the whereabouts of the talisman shamans in Mount Dawu and presented women, spiritual goods, and numerous offerings. To his surprise, one talisman shaman was swayed and agreed to take action.
Mu Jiaoman's letter had been carried to the front lines by a great eagle, and the eagle had brought back a reply. Jianixi responded with only ten words:
"Granted. Either he dies, or you die."
Trembling from head to toe, Mu Jiaoman gathered all the tribal shamans in Dajueting. Loading large carriages with the women, spiritual items, and the captured children of Li lineage demanded by the talisman shaman, he hurried toward Mount Wu at full speed.
Along the way, some subordinates actually came up jubilantly holding a Shanyue head to claim credit, insisting it was Li Xiangping, which infuriated Mu Jiaoman so much that he nearly beat them to death.
"Damn it all, what kind of monster is this bastard?"
Mu Jiaoman was sitting in the carriage in a daze when he heard someone calling out softly from outside:
"Commander! Commander! Mount Wu is here!"
Mu Jiaoman stepped down from the carriage. Seeing the white jade steps ahead, he shakily took off his shoes and climbed the mountain barefoot.
The way up was pitch-black. Mountain winds howled, and owls screeched. Mu Jiaoman dared not raise his head. Counting silently in his heart, he climbed one thousand six hundred and twenty-two steps before reaching a grand platform, also paved with jade stone that was polished to a mirror shine.
With a thud, Mu Jiaoman dropped to his knees. In the reflection on the floor, he saw over a dozen figures seated high upon jade platforms. All were dressed in splendid robes, resembling lowlander cultivators instead.
"So this is that general. Tell us of the matter."
A cold voice came from above. Mu Jiaoman hurriedly recited the explanation he had spent all night rehearsing. He heard sharp, whispering murmurs rise from the left and right.
"What is this? Are we supposed to meddle in mortal affairs now?"
"What do you know? If our Master's grand design is disrupted, you can wait to be devoured!"
"Hmph, these mortals are truly useless. They can't even handle a single Embryonic Breathing realm cultivator!"
Mu Jiaoman kept his head pressed tightly against the ground, not daring to utter a word. Finally, the figure at the head spoke:
"Since none of you, my fellow disciples, wish to step forward, we will settle it with a curse technique. It saves us a trip."
Immediately, a voice below inquired, "Master once forbade us from casting spells to interfere with events on the ground. Senior Brother, with this action... we must still be careful!"
"It matters not."
The person at the head shook his head and replied, "This man is not Shanyue. Besides, among all spells, this prayer-curse art is the safest; it will certainly have no adverse backlash. That person could not possibly have learned prayer-curse arts, so there is no risk of our curse spawning some monstrous anomaly."
The inquirer nodded and ordered, "Bring up the sacrificial offerings!"
Several dull-witted beasts, covered in black hair and as fat as pigs, were hauled forward. The vigor surging from them was astonishingly at the peak of Qi Refinement! From the reflection on the floor, Mu Jiaoman caught sight of the thick calluses on their hooves and the horizontal stripes representing slave markings across their bodies. He wondered inwardly:
*Why paint horizontal slave stripes on beasts...?*
Before Mu Jiaoman could make sense of it, the ground before him suddenly trembled. The jade stone at the center of the platform shifted abruptly, revealing a massive circular pit. Glancing down, he saw it filled with boiling blood and human bones bobbing beneath the surface.
"Shall we curse him into a cripple, curse him foolish, or curse him dead?"
Someone on the left asked, and the person at the head replied softly, "To leave no worries, curse him dead."
The speaker nodded, formed several hand seals, and began chanting slowly in a raspy voice:
"I pray and petition the Xuanming True Talisman. There are rebellious factions and rebel troops, evil fiends and monstrous heretics, who drag along rebellious mandates and stir our lower folk... I respectfully beseech the Great Method of the True Talisman: pluck out his eyes, dissolve his bones, and strip him of all flesh and blood..."
Below, Mu Jiaoman listened in a daze, his emotions suddenly growing inexplicably tangled. Among the Shanyue, there was an ancient tradition never to employ curses in tribal warfare or martial conflict. He felt a deep contempt for his own hypocritical and despicable methods, yet in his heart, he tried to console himself:
*He is a lowlander.*
The head was severed from the boy of collateral Li descent, his blood draining into the pool. The pig-like beasts thrashed in the blood pool, sending up splashes of crimson froth. Smelling the pungent stench of blood, Mu Jiaoman was suddenly reminded of the day he and Jianixi had slain their king and risen in rebellion.
They had slain a king who was just as fat as these pigs, distributed the granaries full of food, and watched the common folk cheer and dance with joy. Jianixi had laughed uproariously. Scared half to death, Mu Jiaoman had asked Jianixi why they were rebelling.
Mounted on a great warhorse, Jianixi pointed his riding crop toward the cheering Shanyue populace and laughed heartily:
"For the people."
Now the Northern Foothills were pacified, yet Jianixi was still waging war without end outside. Outside Dajueting, there were already ten thousand displaced refugees, leaving Mu Jiaoman stretched thin on all sides. He could not comprehend in the slightest how Li Xiangping had raised such a massive army deep within enemy territory.
*Great King, does any of this still have meaning...?*
His eyes half-closed, his tears held back, his legs trembling violently, he foresaw the true nature of things sooner than his Great King for the very first time.
Chapter 99