[Li Family Year 401]
Li Wei was lost in thought within the Ancestor Space. The clan members, having just concluded their tri-monthly assembly, had already departed.
The relationship between the Eternal Sun Prefecture and the Duravia Trade Prefecture was deteriorating by the day, yet that secret force they had learned of from Li Kuanghua and Li Chang'an had not revealed the slightest trace of itself. And that was what was truly worrying. The force was just like Prince Qian himself—like a venomous snake, perfectly camouflaged among the withered leaves of the jungle.
They seemed to be waiting for the opportune moment, a chance to deliver a single, fatal blow to the Li family.
Moreover, while the current Azure Cloud Region was well-defended by its army, the Li family was at a disadvantage to the Duravia Trade Prefecture in every other respect. At the very least, the Li family had no cultivators at the Void Refining realm. And now, Venerable Elder Baimei —that old adversary who had fled Eternal Sun Prefecture in a panic all those years ago—was taking advantage of this chaotic age to stage a comeback.
Then there were the three great powers.
Even though Li Kuanghua and Li Chang'an had perceived that something was amiss with them, both Fairy Hongxiu of the Perennis Immortal Palace and Daoist Mingtai of the Aeternus Sect were in precarious situations.
And then there was Yunlin, over at the Myriad Dao Immortal Palace...
Li Wei let out a long breath, pushing those thoughts aside.
"By my count," he mused, "it's already been a year since Yunlin went to the Myriad Dao Immortal Palace to seek the Dao."
...
Within the Myriad Dao Immortal Palace.
A faint smile played on the young Daoist's face. Projecting an otherworldly air, as if detached from all mortal concerns, he gazed at the hundreds of Myriad Dao Immortal Palace cultivators before him, all clad in Daoist robes.
His voice, when he spoke, was exceptionally ethereal.
"The Great Dao is like still water, bounded by the shore. It is like the tranquil heart of a cultivator."
"Beasts come to the shore to drink from the Dao and quench their thirst, yet they still fight one another for flesh. The still water does not contend. When the beasts die, they enter the Dao and are transformed into all of creation."
"All of creation may perish, the heavens may still send down sweet rain, and the still water may be stirred into ripples—but the Great Dao will always remain."
Li Yunlin could truly pass for a Daoist master. Nearly two hundred years in the Tian Xing Cultivator Abode had tempered his killing intent, replacing it with a profound sense of peace.
For a full year now, he had been lecturing on the Dao to the many disciples of the Myriad Dao Immortal Palace gathered before him.
"Fellow cultivators of this Immortal Palace," he said, "why not follow my path? Adhere to the ancestral precepts of the Myriad Dao Immortal Palace, and do not entangle yourselves in the complex affairs of the Duravia Trade Prefecture. Whether to be the beasts brawling on the shore, or to become the still water—the choice is yours to make."
...
The dozens of Myriad Dao Immortal Palace disciples stared at one another in speechless dismay.
Finally, their leader snarled through gritted teeth, "If you have any real skill, then come out! Preaching? Who the hell wants to listen to your Dao!"
"If it weren't for this blasted spirit artifact," one of them yelled, "we'd have taken your dog's life long ago!"
"So this is the famed Sect Master of the Skyveil Sect from Eternal Sun Prefecture, rumored to have limitless potential? If you ask me, calling you a cowardly turtle hiding in its shell is putting it mildly!"
And so it was.
Li Yunlin, once again, found himself trapped. If not for the fact that his Skyveil Hall now housed numerous spirit objects and had become nigh-indestructible, he likely would have already fallen into his enemies' hands.
Outside the semi-transparent barrier projected by the Skyveil Hall stood disciple after disciple from the Myriad Dao Immortal Palace.
The surrounding disciples were preparing a spiritual array, ensuring that the moment Li Yunlin dared to emerge from the Skyveil Hall, he would be completely trapped, with no path left.
...
Listening to the torrent of curses and seeing Li Yunlin, who remained calm and unconcerned despite being trapped, Li Wei put a hand to his forehead.
"What an unlucky fellow," he muttered.
A year had passed.
Yunlin had been trapped for an entire year, and throughout that time, he had done nothing but lecture on the Dao.
[Your descendant, Li Yunlin, upon entering the Myriad Dao Immortal Palace, discovered that its disciples were nothing like what the clan's intelligence reports had described. They had long known the identities of the sleeper agents the Li family had planted within their sect, but they had bided their time. The moment Li Yunlin entered, ten thousand disciples moved to capture him alive.]
[Your descendant had no choice but to seal himself within the Skyveil Hall. Trait Acquired: Body Prone to Entrapment.]
[Effect: When undertaking missions outside the clan, the probability of being captured or imprisoned increases by 20%.]
A sudden realization dawned on Li Wei. This boy's entire life, from the moment he first joined the Skyveil Sect, had been an endless cycle of being imprisoned, trapped, and surrounded...
He was nearly four hundred years old, his cultivation having already reached the half-step to the Divinity Transformation realm. And yet, even with the protection of the Skyveil Hall, Li Yunlin still couldn't seem to escape his curse of misfortune.
With Li Wei's appearance, the Ancestral Spirit Tablet hanging from the end of Li Yunlin's horsetail brush began to shine, and he knew instantly that the Old Ancestor was by his side.
Li Yunlin surveyed the cultivators bustling around him, all busy preparing a spiritual array to breach the Skyveil Hall and capture him alive.
"Old Ancestor," he murmured in a low voice, "after being trapped for a year, this child has confirmed it. The Myriad Dao Immortal Palace has thrown its lot in completely with Prince Qian. I have met their old Palace Master, Daoist Ming, once before. He merely glanced at me and then departed."
Li Wei frowned. The Skyveil Hall had also investigated that old Palace Master, Daoist Ming.
This man had reached the top ranks of the Nascent Divinity List by the age of two hundred. At four hundred, he became number one on the list, and in the very next year, he broke through to the Divinity Transformation realm.
The man had lived a life that could only be described as cheating, yet he had always remained unknown.
Rumor had it that he reached the Void Refining realm by the age of three thousand, lived for twenty thousand years without ever getting entangled in karma, and never once took a human life.
He was known as the most compassionate of men, his heart detached from worldly things, single-mindedly devoted to the Dao. And yet, it was precisely this man who, along with the other two great powers, divided the Duravia Trade Prefecture and became one of its most powerful de facto rulers.
When Li Wei heard this intelligence, he couldn't help but remark with a touch of sarcasm, "What a compassionate master."
But now, with that compassionate old Palace Master remaining in seclusion, these disciples of the Myriad Dao Immortal Palace had clearly lost their minds, determined to join the war in pursuit of riches and glory.
Li Wei knew then that the Myriad Dao Immortal Palace was a lost cause, and his spirit tablet began to glow.
A look of sudden understanding crossed Li Yunlin's face.
"Please, Old Ancestor," he said, "save your strength."
Li Wei frowned. He heard Li Yunlin, who was gazing forward with a resolute expression, say, "This child has been trapped his entire life. This time..."
"This child will shatter this cage himself!"
He had come here to seek the Dao.
Gazing at Li Yunlin's resolute, upright figure, Li Wei considered for a moment. Then, with a slight nod, he sent a wave of the 'Ancestor's Caress' before vanishing from the spot.
Li Wei could sense Li Yunlin's aura. He had already comprehended the Rules and was just one step away from his breakthrough.
The Myriad Dao Immortal Palace was a Grotto-Heaven and Blessed Land in its own right. The ten thousand spirit pearls in its sky served as the sect's very foundation, with each pearl containing a distinct Rule. Perhaps, Li Wei thought, Yunlin could truly turn this disaster into a blessing.
"Shatter the cage," he murmured to himself.
Back in the Ancestor Space, Li Wei's tone turned grim and cold.
"The moment we devoured Tian Xing," he declared, "our Li family had already shattered its cage! A beast freed from its prison must join the hunt!"
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