After finishing with those matters, Li Ximing prepared to enter seclusion. He issued his final instructions, taking a small purple flame cauldron from his sleeve and saying, "This is the dharma artifact left behind by Yú Yuwei. Send someone to return it..."
Even without the Tuoba Family's mark carved on the cauldron, the Li Family would never covet what belonged to others. The Yú Family had already fractured into pieces, and Yú Yuwei himself had long ceased returning home. Sending the relic to Li Quantao for him to decide its fate was already a gesture that kept it from falling into the hands of outsiders.
After settling the miscellaneous matters, Li Ximing instructed, "Our family has reached a prosperity unseen in a hundred years. Bright Yang has you to hold the line. Jade True has An Siwei and Li Wen. Celestial Thunder has Chenghui. True Fire[1] has Minggong. Supreme Shaman has Chenghuai. True Essence has the white ape. Beyond them we also have Earth Virtue with Qu Buzhi, Converging Water with Miaoshui, Cui Jueyin of Bright Yang, and Hengzhu with Ding Weizeng...
"Excluding those imprisoned in the dungeon, those sealed away, and Jiang Huzi whose end is near, our family already has eleven Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators. We have reached the level once held by the Yuan Family. And with me sitting in command, we must be all the more cautious in this era."
By his count, their family had eleven Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators, which was still short of the twelve required for the Divine Technique of Pavilion View: Refining Within Fire. Moreover, not everyone was free, since each one was already burdened with responsibilities. Their manpower was still lacking.
Li Ximing asked, "Who else in the family still has a chance at Foundation Establishment Realm?"
Li Zhouwei, well-versed in this matter, replied, "If Chen Mufeng and An Siming from back then were still alive, they too could now attempt the Foundation Establishment Realm. Two members of the Tian Family perished while trying to break through in seclusion. The Jade Court Guards have already lost a third man to a failed breakthrough. The Xu Family has declined. As for the Fei Family, there is Fei Qingyi of Western Pool descent. Many of their descendants still train in the Qi Cultivation Realm, but since they were a dispossessed family who changed their surname, their vital qi has been greatly damaged. None among them has yet managed to achieve Foundation Establishment Realm. Only Chen Yang is already very close."
"Chen Yang..." Li Ximing finally recalled this figure and said, "He cultivates Pit Water... a pity indeed, but he can at least take another's place and free them up. As for the Fei Family, there was once Fei Qingyi, who served at my elder brother's side. He can still be of some use."
When speaking of breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Realm, Li Ximing fell silent for a moment before asking, "Do any of the Essence Gathering Pills bestowed by the Azure Pond Sect in those years remain? Bring them here for me to see."
"There are indeed some left," replied Li Zhouwei and he sent someone to fetch them. Chen Yang soon arrived with them. Li Ximing glanced at him, received the pills, and immediately dismissed him.
"In total we received seven from the Azure Pond Sect. Father, Aunt, Uncle, Siwei, and Li Wen have already used theirs. Only two remain."
Heavenly light surged between Li Ximing's brows. He scanned each pill with his divine sense, then finally closed his eyes and ground his teeth, spitting out, "Good!"
The Li Family now also possessed the recipe for the Essence Gathering Pill and could refine it themselves. They no longer needed to beg as before. Though not entirely clear at first, Li Ximing only needed to glance at the formula and then at the pills to immediately discern the truth.
The Dao principles behind the Essence Gathering Pill were in fact not so different from the Purple Mansion Realm's Profound Method of Continuation or the Purple Mansion Realm's spirit item assisted cultivation in divine ability. Li Ximing had some knowledge of both. Though his Daoist arts were not refined, his mastery of pill refining was profound.
His insight was precise and penetrating. "The Essence Gathering Pill, no matter how many precious supplementary herbs it uses, relies entirely on a single main ingredient. In ancient times, it was the unimaginably rare and precious Azure Amber Spirit Grass. Nowadays it varies according to the cultivator. For those of the Pit Water lineage, the best choice is Pit Water itself, refined through a corresponding divine technique. Then the effect is no longer a mere ten or twenty percent, but that of a true Essence Gathering Pill."
Their ancestor Li Tongya had once taken such a treasure pill, carefully refined by a Purple Mansion Realm cultivator, and had broken through Foundation Establishment Realm with ease.
Li Ximing sighed in his heart and said, "The finest main ingredient is that of a fellow cultivator. Second best is a demonic creature. Only then come the treasured panaceas. The best is to use three, the bare minimum is one.
"Now it is clear why so many of the Purple Mansion Realm cultivator's direct descendants could achieve the Foundation Establishment Realm. It was no mystery at all. They kept the secret of the Essence Gathering Pill and never shared it. What they handed out to guest cultivators or peak masters were diluted versions, which were at most ten or twenty percent effective and still counted as 'inner sect treatment.' To the obedient, they gave slightly better ones in secret; to the rebellious or threatening, they gave inferior ones. Some were even given main ingredients in conflict with their Dao lineages, which could only harm them. How much effect those pills had is anyone's guess."
Li Zhouwei immediately lifted his head, as if suddenly enlightened. His eyes went from calm to fierce. His voice was filled with shock, fury, and venom as he asked, "The ones Azure Pond Sect gave our family!?"
"Of course they were the worst, and not merely the worst!" Li Ximing finally tore away his facade of restraint and said harshly, "I examined every one of those main ingredients. They were all Veiled Yin or Radiant Essence! Why did Chengliao fail in his breakthrough? His Dao foundation was Bright Yang! To make him take Veiled Yin and Radiant Essence Essence Gathering Pills, how could this make any sense?!"
The five Essence Gathering Pills from Azure Pond Sect bore gray striations, made from demonic creatures and treasured panaceas. Li Ximing had examined them at the time and allowed the family to use them, but back then he could not discern the distinctions of the Immortal Foundation.
Li Zhouwei closed his eyes at last, finally understanding why his father Li Chengliao, after only a few short years in seclusion, had suffered a sudden failure and death. The omens had not even been pronounced. Why was it that the same Essence Gathering Pills had allowed his aunt Li Minggong and An Siwei to pass their trials with nothing more than fright, while his father, whose temperament and cultivation method were of the highest grade, had perished?
Li Ximing let out a long breath, and the brilliance in his eyes grew clearer as he thought, I still remember... Lord Xuanfeng exchanged with the Azure Pond Sect back then for an Essence Gathering Pill for Second Uncle Li Yuanjiao. Realizing it was a Human Pill, he refused to use it and instead gave it to Yuan Huyuan. That man actually succeeded in one stroke, reaching Earth Virtue Foundation Establishment Realm. Thinking of it now, it must have been an Earth Virtue Essence Gathering Pill, with Earth smothering Pit Water... what a perfect match of Earth smothering Pit Water...
Li Ximing digested this thought for a moment before saying, "The Chi Family was destroyed and Chi Fubo and Ning Hejing have both died, with not even their bones remaining... otherwise, these wretches ought to have been torn apart by my hand!"
Though he spoke harshly, Li Ximing understood in his heart that Si Boxiu must have known the truth of it, and even Si Yuanli might have been perfectly aware. They had simply kept it hidden, unwilling to speak.
"After all, given the circumstances back then, weakening our family was something the Si Family would gladly witness... there was no need for them to warn us..."
Li Zhouwei lowered his head in silence. Li Ximing did not know how to respond, and could only sigh and say, "Among the three carts of spirit items gifted by the Xiao Family, there are two Pit Water treasured panaceas. Bring them here for me to refine pills! Once the pills are complete, I shall enter seclusion to cultivate my divine ability... a great enemy draws near."
Li Zhouwei, now recovered from his thoughts, nodded and withdrew, saying, "Leave the family matters to me, Daoist Master. You may rest assured."
————
Time passed quietly on the lake as spring turned to autumn. A year and more was nothing but the span of a single seclusion to the Purple Mansion Realm cultivators. Though Li Ximing had mastered a divine ability, his command of spell arts were lacking, so he began with the simplest one, Heavenly Radiance, Hidden Light.
Fortunately, cultivating with a divine ability made progress in spell arts much faster. Li Ximing had studied Heavenly Radiance, Hidden Light before, so he soon advanced. Once he was midway, he undertook a visit to Xuanmiao Temple.
Sumian received him warmly, but when asked about the Mifan three sects, he spoke only of old matters and could not provide any clear explanation. After much thought, Li Ximing concluded he might need to seek out Daoist Master Chang Yun of Brahma Cloud Cave.
However, while passing through Profound Peak Gate's territory, he saw ripples forming faintly within the great void. The spiritual energy of Stable Earth[2] surged and fell upon the land. Looking carefully at the earth veins, he saw that a new mountain had risen within Profound Peak Gate's domain.
Who is the one that failed to break through?!
Changxi would surely be stricken with grief, though it was within the expectations of the Purple Mansion Realm cultivators and Li Ximing. The earth-consuming, demon-suppressing force of Dwelling Heart that Charges Profundity was no trifling matter. Changxi's own remaining lifespan had been drastically cut, let alone the fates of several Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators.
Best return to the mountain first, Changxi will surely come seeking me, thought Li Ximing.
1. Previously known as True Flame. ☜
2. Previously known as Gen Earth. ☜