[Your descendant, Li Yaotie, cultivating within the Heavenly Light Sect, is now prepared to break through to the Nascent Soul realm!]
"Yaotie is about to have his breakthrough?" Li Wei's eyes lit up. His form instantly vanished from its original spot; by the time he reappeared, he was already within the Heavenly Light Sect.
The last time he had visited, the Heavenly Light Sect had been blasted to smithereens by Li Yaotie. Now, two years later, it was still undergoing repairs.
In a stark turn of events, the very instigator who had once only been able to perform menial labor within the Sect, Li Yaotie, now resided in a large courtyard he had built for himself in the rear mountains. Before his courtyard stood a single tree.
This place was, in fact, a secret realm crafted by the Heavenly Light Ancestor within this Grotto-Heaven Blessed Land, and the Heavenly Light Ancestor himself was currently cultivating within it.
And within this courtyard were many familiar faces, the very same individuals who had fought in that great battle against the numerous avatars of Venerable Tian Xing on that Mountain.
After Li Yaotie became the personal disciple of the Heavenly Light Ancestor, the Heavenly Light Sect naturally became their new base of operations.
Even Li Xinghuo had run over to seek refuge, bringing with him everything the Old Ancestor had plundered from the Lin family.
Back when Li Yaotie had first informed the Heavenly Light Ancestor about the matter of Venerable Tian Xing, and had asked if he was afraid of such a heaven-defying monster, the Heavenly Light Ancestor had merely shot Li Yaotie a look of disdain...
"Great-Granduncle, are you about to have your breakthrough?"
Sensing the shift in Li Yaotie's aura, Li Kuanghua suddenly burst into his forging workshop.
The entire purpose of their initial expedition had been to rescue Li Yaotie, yet the affairs of the world change in such inexplicable ways.
Who could possibly have foreseen that an unexpected turn during Ye Xiu's breakthrough would escalate into such a monumental battle against the avatars of Venerable Tian Xing?
And who could have ever imagined that Li Yaotie would so completely shed his reckless nature and learn how to be so calculating and cautious?
"Mm, I am about to break through," he confirmed.
Although Li Yaotie's physical appearance was still the same as ever, completely hairless save for his eyebrows, his demeanor was far more composed and steady than his formerly carefree and boisterous self.
He finally carried himself with the true bearing of a respected elder.
"Congratulations, Great-Granduncle!"
Li Kuanghua was overjoyed beyond all expectation.
She presented all the spoils of war, those from the battlefield at the Mountain, as well as those Li Xinghuo had brought back from Eternal Sun Prefecture, to Li Yaotie.
"Great-Granduncle," she said, "please, take a look and see if there is anything among these items that might be of use to you?"
At this moment, within the Ancestor Space, the spirit souls of Li family descendants from every corner of the world were all gathered together.
Through a projected image, condensed by Li Yaowen using his spiritual power, they were watching everything concerning Li Yaotie with rapt attention.
However, a projection of this nature, condensed as it was by spiritual power, could only be maintained for two or three days each year at most.
As Li Yaotie opened up the storage rings for inspection, the members of the Li family nearly began to drool.
The clan members had lived too frugally these past few years. While Li Yaoqing's branch of the family was indeed prosperous, unfortunately, their wealth consisted of nothing but medicine, and more medicine...
Li Wei also examined the contents. After all, these were spoils of war taken from the bodies of Venerable Tian Xing's own avatars, combined with the entire contents of the treasure vault belonging to the Lin family of Qilin Mountain, one of the seven great families of Eternal Sun Prefecture.
The collection of rare treasures was truly substantial.
There were many items that particularly caught Li Wei's eye. But the most important of all was, without a doubt, the "Qilin Crystal" that had come from within Qilin Mountain!
[Rank 5 Precious Item: Qilin Crystal]
[Crafted from special material, it contains the corpse of a Qilin and binds a remnant of the Qilin's soul within.]
[The Qilin's remnant soul can be summoned forth, possessing the power of the peak Nascent Soul realm. As long as the crystal remains intact, the remnant soul cannot be shattered. The corpse within is preserved by the crystal, which seizes Heaven and Earth Spirit Qi to transmute it, allowing it to produce one drop of 'Qilin Blood Essence' every five years.]
A Rank 5 precious item, after all! Truly extraordinary.
He recalled that when the Qilin phantom had first appeared, it had been capable of suppressing even the Blood Demon Lord, a fellow whose true combat prowess was likely enough to earn him a spot on the Nascent Divinity List.
The pity was, the Qilin's remnant soul possessed a strong sense of loyalty to the Lin family, and now that the crystal had fallen into the hands of the Li family, it had simply begun to play dead.
However, merely being able to summon the Qilin phantom was not enough to merit a Rank 5 designation for this "thing." Its true value lay in its Blood Essence!
[Qilin Blood Essence]
[Those who absorb Qilin Blood Essence can gain varying degrees of Qilin-like characteristics. Only one drop may be absorbed in a lifetime.]
Over these past two years, the Qilin Crystal had indeed produced one drop of Blood Essence.
And Li Xinghuo, as a member of the younger generation, was naturally the one to receive the first share of this benefit.
[Your descendant, Li Xinghuo, has consumed one drop of Qilin Blood Essence. Trait Acquired: Qilin Arm]
[By condensing the power of the Blood Essence, the user's right arm can possess the might of a supreme-grade Artifact. As the user's overall strength increases and they achieve new breakthroughs, the right arm can eventually possess the power of a supreme-grade Spirit Artifact.]
"Their clansmen get to consume a drop of this blood essence every five years," Li Wei mused. "It's no wonder the Lin family of Qilin Mountain was able to become one of the seven great families."
Li Wei smiled to himself and then turned his attention to the other spoils of war.
[Low-Grade Dharma Treasure: Profound Ice Golden Bell Mirror]
[The wielder of this mirror can summon profound ice to slay enemies within a hundred-li radius and command the arts of profound ice. When in perilous danger, the mirror can be made to transform into a golden bell, shielding the wielder's body from harm.]
A Dharma Treasure!
** Dharma Treasure = Magical Treasures in early chapter. **
The Li family had yearned for an item of this caliber for who knows how long.
Li Wei's own "North Star Spirit-Breaking Spear" was certainly powerful enough, but it was, first and foremost, a peerless weapon designed for slaughter.
This Profound Ice Golden Bell Mirror, on the other hand, was an artifact that allowed its user to command spiritual power and protect their body. It was versatile, suited for both offense and defense.
This Dharma Treasure was something Daoist Shanchen and Ye Xiu had seized from Qu Yang, Venerable Tian Xing's Divinity Transformation avatar, during their battle.
Daoist Shanchen already possessed his own Dharma Treasure, and this one was, in any case, incompatible with his arts, so he had given it to Ye Xiu.
As for Ye Xiu... that proud and arrogant fellow had claimed that his own physical body was already comparable to a low-grade Dharma Treasure, making this item useless to him. And so, he had given it to Li Kuanghua.
However, Li Wei suspected the truth was that Ye Xiu, having seen how much the Li family had sacrificed and expended during his breakthrough, had given it to them as a form of repayment.
Beyond these, there were numerous other treasures as well, though all of them were below the fifth rank. These, too, would wait until the time of the next Great Ceremony to be distributed among the clan members.
However, despite looking at the numerous treasures within the storage rings, Li Yaotie took not a single one.
Instead, he simply bowed deeply towards the ancient tree outside the courtyard.
"Master," he called out, "this disciple is about to face his heavenly tribulation. I must ask your venerable self to keep a close watch, and please, don't let your precious new disciple fall victim to a sneak attack."
...
The ancient tree trembled slightly. Within, the Heavenly Light Ancestor remained silent, but a muscle on the old man's phantom face twitched, as if he was not quite accustomed to the sheer audacity of his new disciple.
Before long, Li Yaotie strode out of the Heavenly Light Sect with his head held high and his chest puffed out. And just as he had implied, he carried not a single external item with him.
Li Kuanghua had originally intended to ask their own Old Ancestor, but seeing that the Heavenly Light Ancestor within the ancient tree was closer at hand, and feeling it would be improper to bother their own Old Ancestor with such a minor question, she immediately bowed.
"Senior," she inquired, "what manner of heavenly tribulation is our Great-Granduncle currently undergoing?"
Both Li Wei and the Heavenly Light Ancestor within the ancient tree revealed smiles at her question.
"The Nine-Nine."
---
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