In the year 216 of the Great Calendar, the barbarian lord of Mount Yue—Jianixi—advanced eastward, plundered the towns of Lichuan and Lijing, and broke through the mountain gate.
Li Jingtian delicately held the brush with fair and slender fingers, meticulously jotting down notes on the silk fabric page of a book; save for the occasional pause to move her fingers and calculate the dates.
Father was trapped by Mount Yue, invaded westward into Great Jueting, and ravaged fifteen villages. The barbarian lord, fearing his might, resorted to foul curses to assassinate him... father had succumbed to a gruesome fate, coughing blood and spewing forth locusts.
He breathed his last at the tender age of thirty-nine.
The mantle of household responsibilities then fell upon the shoulders of the eldest son of the first uncle, Xuanxuan.
Li Jingtian sighed mournfully after writing this paragraph, her white clothes billowing gently in the breeze. Sitting beside her, Li Tongya raised his head to observe her continued writing in the book.
In the year 217 of the Great Calendar, the fourth month of the summer, there was a great drought. The fifteen Mount Yue villages were affected by locusts that came from the south and covered the sky.
“Well done,” Li Tongya murmured as he nodded approvingly. He had intended to start documenting the family history several years ago, but various family matters had kept everyone in the major sect occupied. Fortunately, Li Jingtian, being a direct descendant of the family, had the time and so the task was handed over to her.
Li Jingtian dipped her brush into the ink and set aside the completed writing. As she prepared another silk page to continue on, the sound of a report outside the courtyard caught their attention.
“Chen Donghe seeks an audience!”
“Come in.”
Chen Donghe entered the courtyard with a determined stride, clad in the same white clothes.
He glanced at Li Jingtian who was behind the curtain before cupping his fist.
“I have something important to report.”
He hesitated. It had been several months since his return to the village, and Li Tongya had been difficult to meet. He gritted his teeth in contemplation before finally speaking.
“The Family Head instructed that... this matter should be reported to Senior Tongya alone.”
Li Jingtian raised her head, then gently set aside her brush and bowed respectfully before retreating from the room. Noticing the seriousness in Chen Donghe’s demeanor, Li Tongya dismissed the attendants as well.
It was only then that Chen Donghe finally produced a crystal clear bead from his pocket, kneeling before Li Tongya.
“The Family Head has instructed that this bead must be personally delivered to your hands. I have not spoken of this to anyone else.”
Accepting the pearl, Li Tongya examined it closely. Encased within the crystal was a thumb-sized, pure white diamond-shaped shard that sparkled in the sunlight.
As Li Tongya was about to speak, the Profound Pearl Talisman Seed within his body trembled violently, causing his heart to skip a beat. He bit down on his tongue and swallowed his words.
“I understand. I’ll remember all that you’ve done for us,” he replied, feigning calmness.
After dismissing Chen Donghe, Li Tongya clapped his storage pouch, only to realize the treasure would not be able to fit inside. Without any other choice, he concealed it in his chest pocket. Nodding to Li Jingtian who had just reentered the courtyard, he swiftly made his exit.
————
Lu Jiangxian’s divine sense had long been fixated on that treasure pearl and as he observed Li Tongya hurrying to the backyard, he felt a profound connection with the shard.
His heart raced with excitement.
“It seems like the mirror is only left with a bluish-gray frame... what seems like its reflective surface is merely the shiny sheen of the smooth frame. The mirror itself has long been shattered and lost!”
The shard in the bead Li Tongya was holding was actually one of the lost fragments of the mirror!
The mirror itself was palm-sized, while the shard was the size of two fingernails, occupying one-tenth of its entire reflective surface. Lu Jiangxian resisted the urge to seize it and decided to wait silently in the backyard instead.
As Li Tongya placed the precious pearl atop the altar reverently, Lu Jiangxian activated his mana. A blazing white light erupted from the mirror, and the bluish-gray mirror floated into the air.
The twelve runes on the mirror’s frame flashed one by one, and white light rippled across the mirror’s surface like undulating water waves. A heavy pressure filled the courtyard, shocking Li Tongya and leaving him gasping for breath.
Lu Jiangxian ingested the pearl, and the Supreme Yin Profound Light burst forth. The crystal-clear shell melted like ice meeting fire, transforming into a white mist—which turned out to be the talisman qi of Foundation Establishment Realm.
As the mirror shard slowly fused into the frame, a profound sense of satisfaction and drowsiness washed over Lu Jiangxian. He focused on merging with the mirror shard, grabbing the talisman qi, and tossing it into Li Tongya’s Shenyang Mansion.
All of a sudden, Lu Jiangxian saw stars appear before his eyes as several rows of large characters appeared.
The top row was written in purposeful handwriting, with pale golden brush strokes— Deep Ocean Long Whale.
The words in the row below it were written in dark gray brush strokes that conveyed the bitter coldness of iron and stone— Exhausting Life To Achieve Success.
Back then, Li Xiangping had three types of talisman qi to choose from... while Li Tongya only had two. It seemed the type of talisman qi was related to the recipient’s talent, while the realm of the talisman qi determined the power of the ability after sealing it.
As Lu Jiangxian’s divine sense delved into the words, he was able to feel the differences between the two talisman qi.
The Deep Ocean Long Whale Talisman could enhance the recipient’s mana, deepening their true essence like the ocean and allowing for rapid recovery of mana.
On the other hand, the other talisman enabled the user to exchange lifespan for mana, granting explosive strength but at the cost of longevity.
Without hesitation, Lu Jiangxian chose the Deep Sea Long Whale Talisman, hoping it would help Li Tongya live longer and also allow the Profound Pearl Talisman Seed in his body to mature several more decades before its retrieval. Besides, knowing Li Tongya, there was no way that man would sacrifice his lifespan to win. So naturally, the first talisman was the most practical choice.
“You should be able to reach greater heights now. Guard your home well, and I shall rest for a while...” Lu Jiangxian murmured as he slowly drifted into a deep slumber.
Li Tongya felt a white qi enter his brow and a pale talisman qi materialized in his Shenyang Mansion before four huge golden characters appeared— Deep Ocean Long Whale.
“White talisman?!”
Before Li Tongya could react, the chakra in his Qihai acupoint stirred, and his cultivation realm surged with the intensity of a volcanic eruption.
Third heavenly layer... Fourth heavenly layer... Fifth heavenly layer...
The deep pool in Li Tongya’s Qihai acupoint expanded violently, growing five or six times larger than its original size. Once brimming with true essence, Li Tongya was now left with a sensation that felt like only twenty or thirty percent of his cultivation remained.
Li Tongya was so astonished that he could barely contain himself.
“What an unbelievable talisman qi... to think that there’s such a talisman qi within this treasure pearl! The Deep Ocean Long Whale Talisman is really powerful..!” he mumbled in utter shock and disbelief.
As he watched the bluish-gray mirror before him gradually lower onto the platform again, Li Tongya respectfully kneeled and bowed deeply three times. He then exited the courtyard and sat down cross-legged, then began to condense his true essence.
Just as he settled down, he was nearly jolted awake from his meditative state.
Although my Qihai is now five or six times larger, the recovery speed of my true essence is more than ten times faster! I thought it would take eight or ten hours to recover, but now it seems it won’t even take two hours..!
Li Tongya tried to settle down again and completed his meditation for an hour, feeling the profound true essence coursing through his body.
“I bet that the three past versions of myself combined can hardly take down the version I am now... they may even end up being exhausted to death by myself!” he murmured quietly to himself, barely able to contain his own excitement.
He soared into the air, feeling his mood had lifted greatly.