This pair of White Shadow Gold Clasps did not suit him, but Li Chenghui showed no hint of regret as he said, "Thunder-type dharma artifacts are rare in the various Daos of Jiangnan. Even the elders of my family, after cultivating for centuries, have only barely seen a few. I already have the Sixfold Profound Thunder Punishment Tokens, that will suffice. This item suits Zhouluo, so it can be left for him."
Li Zhouwei had no choice but to put away the pair of White Shadow Gold Clasps. The lamps in the hall flickered dimly as he solemnly said, "Bring up those cultivators from Floating Cloud Cave for inspection. Our manpower is lacking. We must guard Jiangbei once we cross the lake, so a few of them may be promoted for use."
Wenhu and Ping Wangzi had already brought the core members of Floating Cloud Cave and delivered them to the Qingdu Cave Dwelling some time ago. But with recent ceremonies keeping them occupied, the matter had not yet been dealt with.
"I will go at once." Li Minggong nodded and withdrew.
Li Zhouwei turned to Li Chenghui and simply said, "The northern bank is guarded by the white ape and An Siwei. Uncle, I must trouble you to take some men to the Floating Cloud Cave territory, seize control of it, and prevent any mishaps."
Li Chenghui likewise withdrew. Li Zhouwei remained seated in the main position for a while, until Li Ximing manifested out of midair and stood at the head of the hall. The entire grand hall brightened at once.
"Greetings, Daoist Master," said Li Zhouwei.
He rose and stepped aside. At that moment, Li Minggong brought the group of cultivators from Floating Cloud Cave forward. One by one, they lowered their heads timidly, fear written in their eyes.
There were about eighteen or nineteen in the group, most of them cultivators of late Qi Cultivation Realm to Foundation Establishment Realm. They looked utterly miserable and destitute. Many were bearing wounds, and their faces were as ashen as paper.
Li Minggong said respectfully, "Reporting to Daoist Master, here are all the remnants of Floating Cloud Cave. There are thirteen Qi Cultivation Realm cultivators, five at Foundation Establishment Realm, three devil cultivators, and two immortal cultivators."
Li Ximing raised his brows as he looked over them. The Qi Cultivation Realm cultivators were in somewhat better condition, since they merely had their cultivation sealed. But the Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators were far more wretched. Their hands were shackled behind their backs with heavy gray manacles and their necks bound fast by white iron chains etched with dense formation patterns. Their heads could not move, forcing them to stare rigidly straight ahead.
Li Zhouwei glanced over the five Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators. Nearly half of them carried an aura of darkness and uncertainty; they were clearly of little worth in their daily conduct. The man in the center was especially tall and his features still somewhat handsome, yet both eyes had been gouged out, and his collarbones were pierced with iron nails. He crouched on the ground, plainly unable to rise.
"What sort of people are these?" asked Li Ximing, who sat down in turn. Having been in seclusion for many years, he naturally did not recognize this group. But Li Minggong, who had dealt with Floating Cloud Cave for so many years, knew them well. She first released the seals on one of them.
The tall, thin elder had white hair, but a youthful face. A palm print marred his chest, caving in most of it to the point where his heart thudded visibly within. Ignoring his injuries, he forced a fawning smile and said, "This humble cultivator greets Daoist Master! I am Qu Buzhi, originally a cultivator of the Eastern Sea. Some years ago I was invited to practice in Floating Cloud Cave. Who could have thought that Fu Dou would prove so treacherous and offend your esteemed family? I have truly been wronged..."
His words flowed smoothly enough, but his heart was already visibly quaking. He had never before faced a Purple Mansion Realm cultivator directly. He only dared to lower his head and didn’t dare look up.
Li Minggong sneered and explained, "This man is an Eastern Sea cultivator who practices the Earth Virtue, the Concealed Containment Palace. He is vicious and cunning, forever scheming year after year, yet he never dared to fight our family directly."
At these words, heavenly light stirred faintly between Li Ximing's brows. He discerned that this man indeed cultivated a devil technique, and was an Eastern Sea cultivator, yet his aura of murky qi was the lightest of the five here.
He said, "The matters of the past will not be pursued too heavily, but my family has always upheld the righteous path. We cannot permit a devil cultivator to remain unchecked."
For Qu Buzhi, these words were like a royal pardon. He hastily fell to his knees and replied, "Daoist Master! Though my Concealed Containment Palace is a devil technique, it merely uses decayed corpses long buried in the earth as sustenance. For hundreds of years at most, I have only done things like digging up ancestral graves... but I have never committed acts that harm heaven and reason...
"My Dao foundation is ill-suited for combat, nor do I fancy consuming living men. Though my hidden virtue may be lacking, my open virtue remains without fault!"
He wailed these words loudly, and Li Ximing frowned at the sight. Devil techniques were numerous, and such a method might truly exist. Li Minggong cast a glance at the old man and asked, "Why haven't you recited your technique yet?!"
The old man quickly drew a jade slip from his robes. Though he had never carried his techniques with him, a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator could swiftly imprint jade slips with spiritual sense. In just a few moments, he had copied the method and presented the slip.
Li Ximing skimmed it briefly. The technique was called the Concealed Earth Containment Palace Method, a type of Earth Virtue art that indeed consumed hidden virtue. It could not touch much blood qi, and this gave him pause.
If viewed in this light, is this truly still a devil technique? It bears too close a resemblance to the Purple Mansion and Golden Core Daos, thought Li Ximing.
The Li Family's first encounter with a devil technique had been the Blood Dharma Manual, one of the few high-grade devil arts to spread widely across Jiangnan. Its poison was far-reaching, with traces even now in Jiangbei, the Central Plain, and the southern border.
Devil techniques were also called the Diverse Mansion Unified Furnace Dao, and the Blood Dharma Manual was a quintessential example. In the Qi Cultivation Realm, the Shengyang, Juque, and qihai three mansions[1] were merged into a Diverse Mansion, making the body into a vessel adrift upon a sea of suffering. From there, cultivation proceeded within the Diverse Mansion.
Having attained divine ability, Li Ximing now viewed cultivation methods from an entirely different perspective. He sensed a subtle truth that everything stemmed from the same root, no matter the myriad changes.
Back then, he had felt little when reading the method, only noting that the Blood Dharma Manual required cultivating the Suomo[2] Ridge within the Diverse Mansion to achieve a devil Dao Foundation Establishment Realm. But seeing this now, he began to gain new insight, The Blood Dharma Manual takes great pains to disguise the connection, but it becomes clear once one's cultivation reaches a certain height. In terms of the Purple Mansion and Golden Core Daos, it is nothing more than establishing a Dao foundation known as Suomo Ridge.
The Concealed Earth Containment Palace Method was ancient, and its nature all the more blatant, with scarcely any concealment. Though it too required the merging of the three mansions at the start, its later stages followed much the same path. Li Ximing reckoned that if a Purple Mansion Realm cultivator of the Earth Virtue appeared, they might well be able to transform this technique into an immortal art.
No wonder the northern regions call the Purple Mansion and Golden Core Daos the Purple-Gold Devil Dao, and the Diverse Mansion Unified Furnace Dao the Heavenborn Devil Dao, grouping them as one and the same... they are indeed not far apart!
If I were willing to devote myself to the art of merging the three mansions, I might even be able to transform the Radiant Essence Scripture into a devil Dao cultivation method!
A sudden flash of insight stirred within him, and he furrowed his brows, Then for the devil Dao, breaking through the Purple Mansion Realm simply means pushing the Diverse Mansion into the great void. Since the Dao foundation already lies within the Diverse Mansion, there is no need to be like the immortal Dao, to first push the Dao foundation into Shengyang Mansion... could it be that breaking through to the Purple Mansion Realm is actually easier for the devil Dao?
If the devil Dao faces no other obstacles, then as I stand now, with only Shengyang Mansion placed within the great void and everything else discarded, my state is essentially equivalent to the devil Dao's Purple Mansion Realm. The difference lies merely in one being called Shengyang Mansion, the other Diverse Mansion.
In other words... were it not for the merging of the three mansions requiring blood qi, then after the ancient cataclysm, the Diverse Mansion Unified Furnace method is in fact the more advanced and superior path of cultivation... greatly saving the resources consumed in pushing an Immortal Foundation into Shengyang Mansion.
1. Referring to the three acupoints. ☜
2. 梭 (suō) literally means "shuttle" (as in a weaving shuttle), also carries meanings of "to dart back and forth" or "to shuttle swiftly." In Daoist/meditative texts, it can metaphorically imply rapid movement, circulation, or oscillation. 摩 (mó) literally means "to rub, grind, polish; to touch." In Buddhist and Daoist contexts, it often appears as part of transliterations of Sanskrit terms (e.g. 摩诃 mohe = "maha," great). It can also suggest abrasion, refinement, or friction. ☜