That night, Li Wei also went to see the many children of the Li family stationed abroad.
Li Kuangren was now stationed at Hundred Treasures Mountain, where he was finally reunited with Feng Mi.
The couple worked together with one heart to oversee the grand situation there.
Feng Mi managed their internal affairs exceptionally well; the entire tax revenue of Eternal Sun Prefecture passed through her hands, proving her to be a truly capable and virtuous wife.
She would diligently seek out all the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures the Li family members needed for their cultivation, saving the clan a great deal of trouble.
Xu Cuihua was especially fond of Feng Mi, this daughter-in-law of the younger generation, considering her to be very well-behaved and sensible.
The family's Hall of Heavenly Principle even sent back a report: a junior from the Feng family had attempted to use their connection with Feng Mi for personal gain, but she had secretly had the person seized and taught a harsh lesson.
The girl handled the matter beautifully, saving face for both families.
Late at night was a rare moment of leisure.
Inside their grotto-abode, Feng Mi held Li Kuangren's hand.
"Kuangren," she said softly, "let's have another child."
Li Kuangren was stunned for a moment, then smiled.
"Why? Aren't Changsheng and Changyao enough for you?"
Upon hearing this, Feng Mi pouted like a young girl.
"How are they anything like children?" she complained. "Changsheng is the Master of the Hall of Heavenly Principle's Shadow Division now; he's never home and is busier than both of us combined. And Changyao is the same. She's just a young girl, yet she acts more world-weary than I, her own mother. In her eyes, there's only Changsheng; she has no room for us, her parents."
...
In the night market at the center of a certain prefecture city.
"Achoo!"
Amidst the stream of people, the brother and sister pair—one sitting in a wheelchair, the other pushing—both sneezed at the same time.
Li Changyao's small face grew solemn.
"Brother," she said, "I have a feeling someone is speaking ill of me. Why did you sneeze too?"
"I don't know!"
Li Changsheng's brow was locked in a deep frown. Cold sweat streamed down his face, and his eyes darted about as if lost in thought.
"This is no simple matter," he said, his voice suddenly urgent. "We only just led the Hall of Heavenly Principle to assassinate a Prince, and now this anomaly occurs. There must be something strange afoot. A crisis could be imminent! Changyao, run! Take me home at once! Don't delay for even a moment!"
"Right!"
Li Changsheng paid no mind to the fact that his secret technique could only be used once every several years. He activated it instantly, vanishing from the spot and taking Li Changyao with him.
The very moment they disappeared, a fiery light blazed into the sky behind them as the violent power of a spirit artifact erupted.
Numerous cultivators rushed over from all directions as panicked shouts arose from the crowd: "Terrible news! The Sixteenth Prince has been assassinated!"
Later that night, the members of the Hall of Heavenly Principle's Shadow Division hid amidst the crowds, their expressions awkward. Their Master... appeared to have already fled the scene.
...
Meanwhile, within Duskwild Prefecture, the Three Thieves (The trio of Li Tianyi, Li Tianqi, and Li Tianming) were seated cross-legged on a mountain peak, their bodies radiating a majestic golden light.
Beneath the mountain peak, over ten thousand commoners prostrated themselves in worship.
Even the "Tiger God" they had once captured was, to everyone's surprise, bowing in reverence towards them.
[Your descendants, Li Tianyi, Li Tianqi, and Li Tianming, after spending many years in Duskwild Prefecture, discovered that the local cultivators—who proclaimed themselves immortals and gods—branded them as heretics and began to hunt them down collectively. Acting on the principle of "if you can't beat them, join them," they began to gather faith for themselves.]
[Acquired New Identity: The Three Saints of the Great Dao of Duskwild Prefecture.]
[Acquired Trait: Charlatans.]
"In Heaven and Earth, there is the Great Dao," one of them declared, "and it is the will of Heaven!"
Li Tianyi, dressed in a long robe with a halo glowing at the back of his head, suddenly rose to his feet. Under the devout gazes of his many followers, he opened his arms wide, as if he had truly perceived something in the night sky.
"I have seen it!"
"I have heard it!"
"The Yu King shall rise! We must follow the Yu King and take up arms!"
A wave of cheers erupted.
The drooling Li Tianming and Li Tianqi, with the tortoise shell on his back, both shot a thumbs-up in Li Tianyi's direction.
...
And on this same night.
Before the teleportation array in Merit City, the members of the Li family gathered to send off yet another one of their own.
"Be careful."
The "lonely old man," Li Dalong, spoke only this single phrase to Li Tianyue, his face grim, before turning and walking away in silence. Then, from within the Heaven-Piercing Coffin in the Ancestral Hall, a spirit pearl floated up. It drifted before Li Tianyue and embedded itself in her blood-red armor.
It was the supreme-grade Dharma Treasure that Tian Xing himself had once wielded!
Xu Cuihua and Li Yaozu both gave her a nod of farewell. By the time she departed, her storage ring was already filled to the brim with life-saving treasures.
"This child will be careful."
Only after leaving the Grotto-Heaven and Blessed Land, once she was beyond the borders of Eternal Sun Prefecture, did Li Tianyue finally stroke her storage ring and bow deeply in the direction of her clan.
Meanwhile, back in the clan's residence, the Seven Ironclads, who were still tied to the Old Tree, shouted into the night, "What about us? What about US?!!"
"I will take very good care of you."
The moonlight revealed the Old Tree's sinister and ferocious face.
---
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