[Year 218]
[Descendant Activity: Your descendants, the father-son pair Li Chang'an and Li Xingchen, acutely feeling the disparity between their own strength and that of their other clansmen, have resolved to join a company of cultivators from a nearby town. Together, they will journey to the ocean territories in pursuit of secret realms, such as the 'North Sea Dragon Palace', the 'Kun Peng Hidden Domain', and the 'Mayfly Insect Sacred Ground'...]
[Intervention (Li Yaowen): Li Yaowen, from her vigil within the endless heavens where she silently watches over her kin, has perceived the restless ambition and determined striving of this father and son duo. She has thus elected to grant them a measure of the Qi Luck she has painstakingly accumulated over the long years.]
[Trait Acquired (Li Chang'an & Li Xingchen): North Sea Treasure Hunters.]
[Trait Effect: 'North Sea Treasure Hunters' – Increases their chance of discovering fortuitous encounters by 1%.]
That year, Li Kuanghua, Qingyu, and Li Xinghuo stood watching as an unpretentious spirit vessel set course for the distant sea regions.
Noticing the anxiety etched on Qingyu's face, Li Kuanghua offered words of comfort.
"Sister Qingyu," she said, "Don't you worry. They are, after all, sons of our Li family. And our Li bloodline... we are never ones to settle for a mundane existence. And in any case, the Ancestor is watching over them."
"I know." Qingyu let out a long sigh.
"It's my own failing," she said softly.
"All I ever wanted, from the very start, was for them to have a simple, peaceful existence. But as the years passed, I came to realize... no matter how much I tried to shield them, to protect them at every turn, they were never truly content with a life of quiet obscurity.
You wouldn't know this, Kuanghua, but Chang'an, even when he was little, had loved to fight. He went through all the other children in our village at least once! And all the while, he was concealing it from me, secretly pursuing his cultivation. And Xingchen, once he got a bit older, he was just as restless! That little rascal was always wandering off in every direction, constantly dreaming of becoming a knight, righting wrongs, and upholding justice!"
Upon hearing Qingyu's words, Li Kuanghua fell into a thoughtful silence for a considerable time. Her mind drifted back to the days of her youth, to her own elder brother and younger brother – had the three of them truly been any different in their own restless spirits? A faint smile touched her lips.
"Perhaps," she mused aloud, "this is simply the destiny that runs in our Li blood."
And so it was, in that year, the scattered members of the clan found themselves gathered together once again in the spiritual space. Though their individual plights throughout that year remained arduous, it was not a year entirely devoid of progress or acquisition.
[System Update: Your descendant Li Xinghuo, after consuming the 'Crab True-essence', has successfully broken through to the Early Stage of Foundation Establishment!]
[Descendant Update (Li Yaozu): While traversing the Snowy Region, Li Yaozu has attained initial mastery in his Sword Dao. A 'Frost Sword' has manifested within him; this life-bound 'Ice Sword' is imbued with a Rule. Upon its full integration, his injuries have healed by 3%.]
[Descendant Update (Li Yaotie): Your descendant Li Yaotie has surreptitiously mastered an artifact forging technique from Heavenly Light Sect, known as the 'Hundred Flames Divine Forging technique'.]
[Clan Cultivation Update: All your surviving descendants have commenced practicing two techniques originating from Azure Mist Mountain: the 'Fortune-Locking Art' and the 'Mortal Dust Transformation Technique'.]
[...]
Li Wei now regarded all his gathered descendants once more. He knew that in the outside world, during this past year, many of them still presented a facade of despair. Yet, the instant their spirits entered this 'Ancestor Space', every single one of them radiated an irrepressible vitality and resolve.
After they had each shared their updates and experiences, they also gained a clearer picture of the wider world's state.
Azure Cloud region, for instance, remained largely unchanged; though many Li family members there were now fugitives, Li Yunbing (as Jiang Chenghuan) still held firm control over the entire commandery.
As for Eternal Sun Prefecture... The various prominent clans there had inexplicably ceased their pleas to Venerable Elder Baimei.
Elder Baimei himself, according to reports, surmised that every single major power within Eternal Sun Prefecture was now likely being controlled from within by an avatar of Venerable Tian Xing.
Nonetheless, Elder Baimei was convinced that in less than a millennium, Venerable Tian Xing would, without fail and without impediment, achieve his breakthrough to the Void Refining realm.
When that day arrived, most of the other Li family members would likely not dwell too much on what a Void-Refining Tian Xing might choose to do.
Li Wei, however, understood with chilling certainty: even before achieving that breakthrough, Tian Xing's power was already such that it had forced the great Elder Baimei to seal his mountain and refuse to emerge.
Once that depraved fiend actually reached Void Refining... the consequences would be unimaginable! Any hope of rescuing Li Kuangren would be extinguished; any thought of avenging their fallen kin would become an impossibility!
A thousand years... For the very first time, Li Wei felt that the passage of a millennium, once an almost unimaginable stretch of time, now seemed terrifyingly, crushingly brief.
"Yaotie, how are things on your end?" Li Wei inquired.
"If you were to break through to Nascent Soul and also reach the proficiency of a Rank 6 Artifact Refiner, you would then possess the capability to craft supreme-grade spirit artifacts." Li Wei noted that Li Yaotie, before him now, was far more composed and deliberate, lacking his former careless and unrestrained attitude.
Li Yaotie considered this with great care for a long while before he finally replied, "This child is currently in the Heavenly Light Sect. I can sense that many of the powerful factions based in the Capital have not ceased their... 'Special attention' for me. For reasons I cannot fathom, our clan has become a major eyesore to them. They seem to desire nothing more than my swift demise. It is only due to the sanctuary offered by Heavenly Light Sect and the protection of General Wang that they haven't yet dared to act openly against me."
"And while Heavenly Light Sect does offer me protection, that is solely due to General Wang's influence. Even if I were to advance to Nascent Soul, even if I attained the mastery of a Rank 6 Artificer and Puppet Master, the truth is, the sect here still wouldn't particularly value this child. They have no shortage of their own geniuses in this place. In fact,"
He added grimly, "Such advancement would likely only make those factions even more determined to see me dead. As it is, I dare not venture even a single pace beyond the gates of Heavenly Light Sect."
"Unless, perhaps..." Li Yaotie trailed off, his expression shifting.
Li Yaotie's gaze shifted, locking onto Li Kuanghua.
"What are you staring at me for?" Li Kuanghua asked, a touch of unease in her voice.
Meeting Li Yaotie's intense gaze, Li Kuanghua felt a nervous lump form in her throat.
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