“An Xuanxin...”
Solemnity reigned over the great hall. Li Ximing listened quietly to the report from below. At his side, Ding Weizeng spoke in a low voice laden with grief:
“Reporting to the Real Person: for the past two years, Xuanxin remained constantly by this subordinate's side, garrisoned along the riverbank. He served with great merit, both resisting demonic cultivators and ferreting out Shi cultivators slipping downstream...
“Today, I received Young Master Zhoufang's orders to report to the dense forest, leaving him alone to wait on the mountain... Who could have foreseen that he would be struck squarely by the karmic fire.”
Beneath the dais, Li Jiangxia cast his eyes down. From behind him stepped a youth in white robes adorned with jade. He had handsome features, but his face was drenched with tears. Falling to his knees beside Ding Weizeng, he choked back sobs and spoke respectfully:
“My second brother gave his life in devotion to the lake, fulfilling the charge of our forebears!”
The An family possessed fine bloodlines. This man was An Xuanxin's elder brother, An Xuantong. He had achieved Foundation Establishment around the same time as his brother and had followed Li Jiangxia for many years, serving as the Third Young Master's most capable right hand.
Yet this Third Young Master, renowned for his frank and hearty demeanor, now wore a sullen expression, his eyes tinged with sorrow.
Li Jiangxia had cultivated the Wilderness for many years, but the karmic fire had burned it clean, inflicting catastrophic losses. Whether it was the confidants he had promoted step by step or the forces nurtured by his maternal clan, all could be said to have fallen in a single day.
The only silver lining was that Li Jiangxia, fearing his confidants might be reassigned by his second elder brother while he was in secluded cultivation, had recalled most of them to the mountain to cultivate ahead of time—aside from An Xuanxin, who was with Ding Weizeng. Confidants such as An Xuantong and Wan Qi had thus returned early and avoided perishing in the Wilderness. Otherwise, Li Jiangxia truly would have been left with no one at his disposal!
Even more tragic was the fate of Li Jiangxia's maternal clan, the An family. Not only was An Xuanxin, the prodigy of their new generation, slain by the karmic fire, but forty percent of the An family's network of old acquaintances and retainers had been stationed in the Wilderness... Now they were reduced to ash. Had An Siwei not taken many people with him to the East Sea, their plight would be grimmer still!
An Xuantong's heart bled with grief as he knelt with head bowed against the floor.
Though Li Ximing did not pay much attention to clan appointments, how could he fail to perceive such matters? If Li Jiangxia and the An clan had not held sway over the Wilderness, Ding Weizeng, as his confidant, would not have remained there continuously, nor would Li Zhouwei back then have assigned Li Jiangliang to train under Cui Jueyin, who oversaw the dense forest. The Real Person naturally knew which faction had suffered the heaviest blow. Sighing softly, he said:
“Rise first.”
The two hurriedly stood. Li Ximing glanced around the hall and spoke:
“The fire in the east will not burn for long. Wait quietly for now; none are permitted to leave...”
He closed his eyes, pondering for a moment before asking:
“Weizeng... you said... Zhoufang asked you to go to the dense forest? Where is Zhoufang?”
At the side, Li Minggong stepped forward and said respectfully:
“When the unrest broke out, courtyard guards were already dispatched to secure the peaks and bring back cultivators from the various prefectures. He is responsible for counting the direct lineage members of each branch. I shall summon him up.”
“No need.”
Li Ximing recalled an earlier incident. Back when the Wilderness had similarly suffered calamity, the brothers Li Zhoufang and Li Zhouyang had been serving there and should have met with disaster, yet because of an unexpected mishap before departure, Li Zhoufang had avoided it...
*This boy has a touch of good fortune upon him... Were it not for him, Weizeng nine times out of ten would not have survived either.*
He pressed the matter down and noted it in his heart, speaking softly:
“Although the great array over the lake has been activated and the roaming purple light can shield everyone, we must not let our guard down. Remain properly on the island, and dispatch more people to gather information.”
“Yes.”
Li Jianglong stepped forward and answered respectfully. Li Ximing turned his gaze to Li Jiangzong:
“Jiangzong, you may take your medicine and enter secluded cultivation. Great turmoil lies ahead; if you do not succeed now, you may have even less of a suitable spiritual atmosphere later.”
“Understood!”
Once Li Jiangzong had acknowledged the order, Li Ximing turned his gaze to Li Zhouda. He was struck to find the man's cultivation dense and solid, his thunder pool rich and profound, carrying considerable presence. Li Ximing commended him:
“The same applies to you. Once you break through to the mid-Foundation Establishment stage and stabilize your cultivation for two years, come up the mountain to find me.”
Li Zhouda had been unassuming in his early years; no one had anticipated he would attain his current might, and Li Ximing was pleasantly surprised. Yet the Zifu realm was clearly unrealistic for him, so there was no need to be frugal. Granting him a talisman pill to elevate him straight to late Foundation Establishment would yield another fighting force.
Having arranged the matters for each person, he produced dharma instruments and elixir pills as rewards, then dismissed everyone in the hall, leaving only Li Xuanxuan behind. Only then did Li Zhouwei speak:
“Demon King Qingyan of the West Sea sent a message requesting Great-Uncle to go over. Now...”
Li Ximing merely shook his head:
“I was already hesitant before, and now it is even more impossible to leave!”
Li Zhouwei nodded:
“While Great-Uncle was away at the East Sea, Real Person Zhong Qian of Cheng Water Marsh happened to break through to Zifu.”
“Zhong Qian...”
Li Ximing raised an eyebrow, then shook his head with some regret. Seeing Li Zhouwei glance toward Li Xuanxuan, he hesitated before offering comforting words:
“Although our family shares quite a past with him, Chengyun has thrown its lot in with the north, so future matters are hard to predict. Back then, Qingchi ordered our predecessors to use him to enter the grotto-heaven, yet he aided our forebears in Daning Palace. I remember Father mentioning this to me... Perhaps he did not know he was being used when he was at Foundation Establishment, but now that he has reached Zifu and opposes the south, he will almost certainly learn of it.
“With our stances now in opposition, there will likely be no friendship left to speak of, and we may even cross blades. Thus, I repaid this favor by bestowing spiritual resources upon him to settle accounts, so that when we clash in magical combat... there will be no debt owed.”
Li Xuanxuan could only nod with a sigh. Li Ximing looked at him and refrained from mentioning the matter of crossing-over conversion. Instead, he said:
“I went to the East Sea and brought back only an Under-Neck Feather. For one, Bichen Water was genuinely scarce; for another, several parts of the East Sea have fallen into chaos as well. Real Person Miao of Tinglei Island clashed with Southern Compliance Raja, and there was unrest elsewhere, forcing several market fairs to close.”
He shook his head with a sigh, continuing:
“It is truly an age of chaos. I inquired of Senior Liu about lineages related to formations, and swallowed my pride to ask him for some array heritage. Fortunately, Senior Liu never disappoints; generous as always, he brought out items at once.
“According to him... regarding paths relevant to arraycraft, the first is 'Tangliang Silver' of 'Treasury Gold' in his possession. Good as that method is, it is unsuitable to cultivate, and even if one wished to, there is no qi for it... However, he possessed a valuable Divine Scroll of the Heavenly Granary and Astral Enclosure, the 'Ju Nanheng' of 'Heavenly Directorate'.
“As for other lineages helpful to formations, there are two under 'Heavenly Directorate': 'Ting Xingchen' and 'Shen Buxu'; one under 'Upper Ceremony' called 'Zhi Jixi'; and one of Free Gold, which is now severed, as well as one of Wu Earth—none of which are things we can covet...”
Li Ximing set down his teacup. With a faint stir of his divine ability, he instructed:
“Call Suining up.”
The attendant outside hurried down. Li Xuanxuan said solemnly:
“Minghuang! I made inquiries! This child's ability to master arrays merely by studying books is not a whit inferior to your grand-uncle's alchemy talent back then. He is an exceedingly rare prodigy!”
Li Zhouwei looked thoughtful, but Li Ximing smiled and said:
“We are all family here; why save face for me, Grandfather? Did I ever possess the skill to master alchemy merely by reading books? Living in hardship by the lake, he could still achieve this—Ning Wan was no more than this in her day. Otherwise, I would not have made a special trip to the East Sea on his behalf!”
Before long, someone arrived and bowed outside the great hall, his voice trembling slightly with excitement:
“Junior Suining pays respects to the two Real Persons!”
“Come up!”
Li Ximing lowered his gaze slightly.
The youth pushed open the doors and stepped inside. Dimly catching the daylight, he did not dare raise his head, walking all the way to the foot of the dais before bowing once more, pressing his forehead against the floor. Only upon drawing close did he hear an elder's kindly voice:
“Rise.”
Li Suining felt a lightness on his arm as the old man rose and pulled him up. Only then did Li Suining lift his brow to look. The elder before him wore inky blue robes with graying hair; though advanced in years, his eyes remained bright and spirited, watching him with a smile.
In his past life, Li Suining had not met him many times, but each time they did, the old man would always help him up, and with a heaviness in his sleeve, pills and resources would quietly be slipped inside. Later, Li Xuanxuan's health deteriorated, and he rarely showed himself; he only heard that the day before he passed away, the elder had returned to Lijing. Li Suining had been away, never getting to see him one last time.
“A rare and fine child indeed!”
“Mm.”
The voice was gentle and resonant, coming from Li Ximing on the dais, which immediately prompted Li Suining to turn his gaze.
Light rippled through the great hall. Brilliant sky light poured from behind the main seat, where the Real Person in platinum robes sat upright, the radiance between his brows dazzling like a deity.
Beside him stood a tall youth in black-and-gold finery, turned sideways toward him. Those powerful hands steadily held a teapot, pouring clear tea smoothly into a cup with faint, delicate sounds.
How many years had it been since Li Suining last saw him? His heart shook, surged with emotion until tears threatened to spill, and he lowered his eyes:
*The King of Wei!*
The youth before him was the White Qilin of the mortal world, the lord who had carved his way from Jiangbei to the Dai region—and the sole prince under heaven capable of making the divine abilities of both North and South retreat, truly worthy of being an emperor...
None of these titles alone were enough to move Li Suining to this degree. Back then, the members of the Li clan had long grown accustomed to it—accustomed to the days when this King of Wei suppressed both North and South, forcing the three houses of Zhixuan, Fengwu, and Zhenghuai to bow their heads. So when news reached the lake that a Second Manifestation had appeared over the Wei capital and the Great Sun had lost its brilliance, the entire Li clan collapsed in spirit, and panic reached unprecedented heights. It had even caused several factions in the clan, who had been arguing until their faces turned red, to lose their wits that very night, leaning against one another and weeping bitterly...
Having lived through those three days of lost brilliance, how could Li Suining not be shaken? Prostrating on the ground, a surge of trepidation rose in his heart:
*Can I truly conceal anything from him?!*
*Drip, drop.*
The tea filled seventy percent of the cup. The youth set down the pot. His golden eyes shifted with slight surprise, and he took a step forward, resting his gaze upon him without speaking.
Li Ximing had met him first and was somewhat more familiar with him now. Smiling, he nodded, produced a stone box from his sleeve, opened it with a flick of his arm to reveal three jade slips, and gently placed them upon the table, saying solemnly:
“I made a trip to the East Sea and secured three cultivation methods for our clan.
“The first is the Chant of the Heavenly Granary and Astral Enclosure, obtained from Real Person Yuanbian. It achieves 'Douheng Xuan', known anciently as 'Ju Nanheng'. It allows one to calculate positions and arrange configurations, determine shifts and alter spiritual energies, and is said to greatly aid in commanding array flags once mastered.”
Hearing this, Li Suining knew his earlier conjecture was correct, clear as day:
*The Chant of the Golden Token and Upper Tablet was indeed sent from the East Sea! In this life, because the Real Person went in person without the hazards of the past life, he surely brought back the Divine Scroll of the Heavenly Granary and Astral Enclosure. The Chant of the Heavenly Granary and Astral Enclosure is actually the Qi Nourishment portion of that divine scroll!*
He immediately breathed a sigh of relief, but joy and doubt quickly arose:
*Three paths? One more than in my past life?*
The Real Person before him continued unhurriedly:
“This second path was likewise obtained from Real Person Yuanbian, named the Chant of the Great Void's Dipper Shift. It achieves 'Shen Buxu', capable of calculating profound sequences, steering the flow of circumstances, and doubling as a divine office.”
*...Calculating profound sequences, steering the flow of circumstances, doubling as a divine office...*
These words made Li Suining freeze slightly. An impulse welled up within him, making his hairs stand on end and his heart thump violently.
“Finally... there is also 'Zhi Jixi' of 'Upper Ceremony'. The technique is good and its spiritual energy is easy to gather, but one must wait a year or two. It can alter geography and spiritual veins to form arrays. There is also the Chant of Awoken Stars Overseeing the World originally stored within our clan; it is an ancient art capable of listening to and perceiving others' speech, but regrettably its grade is not high.”
Li Ximing looked at him with a smile, seeming to ask him, yet also appearing to consult the old man beside him and Li Zhouwei on the other side:
“You must choose carefully!”
Li Zhouwei's gaze swept across them, understanding already clear in his mind:
*Since Great-Uncle brought them out, he must have checked the Heaven of Sun and Moon in Mutual Splendor and confirmed that the subsequent lineages for these techniques could be exchanged for... Otherwise, he would never let this child cultivate a third-rank method...*
The three had their thoughts, yet Li Ximing's words rang clearly in the ears of Li Suining, who knelt below. His thoughts raced at their utmost speed:
*In my past life, time was pressing; as long as something was delivered, it was completely sufficient for younger generations, not meant for me...*
*Now that the Real Person went in person, two extra paths were acquired. These two... perhaps offer even greater aid to arraycraft, or perhaps suit Lake Wangyue's current situation better, but Real Person Yuanbian most likely does not have the subsequent paths in his hands either...*
But to him, Li Suining, did subsequent paths matter? He knew his cultivation speed; though much time was squandered in his past life, by the day he fell into exile in the Southern Border, he was merely at mid-Foundation Establishment... Even if in this life he truly had a chance to break through to Zifu amidst these tumultuous storms... could he genuinely retreat into seclusion with peace of mind?
Even if he succeeded, it would help the situation, yet still remain insignificant—what standing would he hold under heaven? And if he failed, the entire clan would inevitably slide back into the abyss of his past life!
He did not hesitate long. Without a moment's wavering, he abandoned the Divine Scroll of the Heavenly Granary and Astral Enclosure, which offered higher future achievements and was actually of the fifth rank. Raising his head respectfully, his eyes shone brightly:
“Reporting to the Real Person: in an age of great change, junior wishes to cultivate the Chant of the Great Void's Dipper Shift to gain a measure of divining capability and contribute a bit more strength to the clan!”
Li Ximing smiled and glanced toward the youth beside him. Li Zhouwei nodded slightly.
“Good.”
Li Ximing said warmly:
“Have your young uncle take you into the inner array to prepare for secluded cultivation!”
“Understood!”
Li Suining's eyes reddened slightly. Bowing deeply to the three of them, he respectfully withdrew from the great hall. Only after his figure vanished beneath the dark dais did the old man commend:
“A rare find!”
Li Ximing chuckled and rose, producing an inky jade slip from his sleeve and placing it into Li Xuanxuan's hands:
“This is Senior Liu's Scripture of Profound Iterations and Derivations, the culmination of his life's attainment in arraycraft—profound and immensely valuable. I leave it in Grandfather's hands to be given to this child once he emerges from seclusion!”
How precious was the lifelong heritage of a Zifu array master! Li Xuanxuan hurriedly rose to accept it, tucking it carefully into his bosom. Li Zhouwei casually walked down the steps, smiling:
“As for the Divine Scroll of the Heavenly Granary and Astral Enclosure... let us keep it.”
The youth shared a knowing look with his grand-uncle, hearing Li Ximing transmit via divine ability:
*The one in the pavilion sharing the same qi as the Chant of the Great Void's Dipper Shift is called the Divine Scroll of the Heavenly Bureau Arranging the Order. Go exchange for it on his behalf.*
Chapter 994